In Which Someone Attempts to Kidnap Shikamaru, Instead
by donahermurphy
Summary: "Dreaming of Sunshine" AU(s). In Which Someone Attempts to Kidnap Shikamaru And Fails Utterly. Chapters 1-3:The Futures that Result When Orochimaru Adopts, Afterward. Chapters 4-6: The Futures that Result When Danzo Adopts, Afterward.
1. The Kidnapping, The Adoption

**In Which There is An Attempted Kidnapping Attempt on Shikamaru, Instead**

DOS! AU (Dreaming of Sunshine belongs to SilverQueen)

(This was supposed to be unrepentant Crack. It sort of turned into angst that tried to crawl its way back to unrepentant crack, because it _is_ me writing this. But it's _meant_ to be unrepentant crack.)

* * *

The Kumo nin had taken a long time to break, and an even longer time to train back into lethality. But using a ROOT agent would not have worked. Not for this mission.

The wrong people were getting suspicious about the children going missing in Fire Country, and while Orochimaru's work was hardly _vital_ to ROOT, it did represent a significant investment of time and resources on Danzo's part. And it might lead to other operations being unearthed. This seemed the perfect solution.

Free of wartime responsibilities, Shikaku Nara was getting far too interested in village operations. Orochimaru was getting far too careless. Kumo was getting far too uppity (and Hiruzen had yet to be supplied with a motivating enough reason or pretext to allow Danzo free reign of the situation.) All those problems could be solved.

Had been already, if the Kumo ninja kneeling at Danzo's feet was any indication. He'd been seen, but not caught, and successful in retrieving the package. Perhaps he had not outlived his usefulness, after all.

Danzo's considerations are interrupted by Orochimaru re-entering the room, infant lifted awkwardly in both hands. (Danzo had insisted no lethal damage; it could still be a useful bargaining chip.)

"Shikamaru Nara," Orochimaru says, flatly.

Danzo looks up from his subordinate. "Yes," he replies.

Orochimaru lifts the infant. "Shikamaru Nara is supposed to be a _boy_."

Danzo blinks.

"Report," he orders the Kumo nin. _With more details this time_ , goes unsaid.

* * *

The mindwalk of Shikamaru:

It is a delicate, delicate operation, but Inoichi is the best. The more promising infants of the Yamanaka clan were often mindwalked as young as two, to get their brains used to the idea. Eighteen months was pushing it, but not for someone of Inoichi's skill. Shikamaru's sense-memories of the event could be gently browsed with only a minor irritation in the mind, akin to a very mild sunburn. It would have been better if Yoshino had seen more- then maybe Inoichi wouldn't have had to do this at all- but any leads on the kidnapping could be vital.

The procedural details of the mindwalk are straightforward enough. Shikamaru's mind is more structured than Ino's, and a little less prone to fits of excitement.

The actual details of the event itself- Inoichi pauses, examining his own mind for traces of genjistsu or tampering, then proceeds to carefully walk through Shikamaru's recollection of the events again, looking more closely through Shikamaru's own perceptions, even more intently alert for traps or snares.

But impossibly enough, events proceeded exactly as they had the first time:

There is a thump from downstairs (the Kumo nin attacking Yoshino, knocking her out, Inoichi knew). Then, the opening of a door downstairs. Footsteps, as if in a search.

Shikamaru watches as his twin's eyes flare wide and she inhales sharply. (Shikako's chakra hypersensitivity alerting her to the threat? Perhaps. According to Yoshino's half-coherent report, the nin's killing intent had been light and almost incidental, his range poor.) Shikamaru sees his sister's reaction, but not the reason for it, and feels mostly mild curiosity.

Then indignation, when she shoves him under the bed, piling pillows in front. The midmorning sun turns to the dim of half-light.

"You're gonna be quiet until you see Daddy," Shikako whispers. It's not the first complete sentence she's ever said- Shikaku gives a full report of all their 'firsts,' and at eighteen months, both twins are frighteningly brilliant- but it is the longest one Inoichi's heard so far.

She turns around, chakra growing steadily more noticeable, and from the crack between the pillows Shikamaru can see she's crawled halfway to the center of the room by the time the Kum nin can be heard entering the room.

"Shikamaru Nara," the ninja says, voice rough with disuse. Not entirely present in mind, Inoichi diagnoses, though more from the tone of voice than anything. It's not the Kumo nin's lack of observational skills that are an issue; the twins often dress alike. There were some days Shikako just refused to wear dresses, grabbing for her brother's pants instead. (So much personality, the twins have, even at this age. His own daughter, too. Nothing can happen to them. Nothing will. They'll find Shikaku's girl and this will just be a nightmare for too-cold nights.)

Shikako's form is very still as she looks up. Inoichi can see the fear in her limbs, but Shikamaru can't. Doesn't.

Shikamaru feels confusion, and the first faint stirrings of unease. Is he supposed to be hiding from the man? Is that the game, until Dad comes home? Shikako likes games sometimes, and she usually manages to make ones where Shikamaru doesn't have to do anything, but something about this is different…

He doesn't know this man. Why are they playing with him, then?

"Where is your sister?" the ninja askes, expressionlessly. Exhaustedly. Inoichi notices, and tucks away the pertinent details.

"Away paying wif Ino," Shikako lies, lisping. She's looking up at the man. Trembling, faintly, but looking up at the man and lying through her teeth.

Which…

Inoichi knows smart. He knows brilliant. He knows genius, he's lived next to genius over half his life. He also knows kids, and he has a girl one day younger than Shikako and _what the hell this is not normal._ She's sacrificing herself to save her brother and _she knows exactly what she's doing._ She _understands_.

He knows the stages of the mind, and all its myriad variations. He's seen _recklessness_ from an eighteen-month old- usually the more active ones. Even selflessness.

Not bravery, though. You have to appreciate that the danger exists, first, and then be scared by it, and then decide to move past being scared, either consciously or not. He's never seen bravery from an eighteen-month old. Or a two-year old. Or a three-year old.

And it's as beautiful as it is frightening, because, yes, something about Shikako's development has gone very seriously awry- but not in any of the ways that matter.

The memory of Shikamaru's thoughts are less panicked, but increasingly concerned. Shikako is pretending to be him, Shikamaru knows. And she cannot trick the man in the game unless Shikamaru hides. But something is wrong… something is wrong…

'Kako doesn't _like_ to talk. She likes to ask questions. She likes to listen to Dad read. She likes to cuddle with him or mom in the sun, and the only times she's happy talking are when it's him or Mom or Dad. She will talk _sometimes_ when Dad's friends are home, if it's too troublesome not to. But she doesn't _like_ to talk. When strangers ask questions she hides behind him.

Why are they playing the game with the man?

And then the man moves, and he can't see 'Kako anymore, and the window makes a sound, and the room is empty.

And Shikamaru knows, somehow, crying will not work to get her back. And Shikako told him to be quiet, to wait for Daddy- not Mommy where's Mommy where's Mommy is she gone like 'Kako where's Daddy- so Shikamaru stays still under the bed, and keeps his eyes very wide, and doesn't make a sound. If he listens, will it be okay?

Inoichi pulls himself from Shikamaru's mind gently, and eases the baby into sleep. "The kidnapper thought she was Shikamaru," he reports first, because that's the important part. Will she still be wanted alive if she's not?

The Hokage and Shikaku are waiting for the rest, so he fills them in on the details of the Kumo nin and the discrepancies in the man's behavior.

He waits until he's left the office, running on the rooftops with Shikaku, to add the rest. "She also managed to make a plan to hide her brother with maybe fifteen seconds notice that they were both in danger, and then impersonated him when she realized he was the target," he explains. It's not something the Hokage needs to hear.

Shikaku almost falters in his pace. Inoichi knows the thoughts that run through his mind- infiltrator- and shakes his head. "It was clearly Shikako," he says, because if anyone were to notice a foreign personality take over it would be him. "And she clearly did everything in her power to protect her brother," Inoichi adds, because an infiltrator would be trying to infiltrate, not get kidnapped by a random third party. And it's reassuring to know that, if your child is going to reveal new and unsettling powers, at least it was in the course of protecting a sibling.

"Troublesome," Shikaku mutters.

"Something to discuss with Yoshino when we get her back, perhaps," Inoichi says, and it's reassurance and reminder all in one. Reassurance that they are going to get her back, and a reminder that Inoichi feels this information shouldn't be shared with the Hokage, or anyone outside Shikaku's immediate family. Bloodlimits are known quantities. Prodigy status, in Konoha, is far less well-protected. And certainly not on the scale Shikako appears to be working off of.

* * *

By the time Orochimaru eventually gets caught for his illegal experimentation and is run out of the village, he already has arranged with his summons to send the girl on ahead.

The Kumo nin's description of events would have been easier to write off if his kidnap victim hadn't tried to escape twelve times already. And she seems to prefer his scientific observation over Danzo's attempts at building a rapport, which is an even better indication of her assessment abilities.

It's _fascinating_.

Besides, the snakes like her.

He joins Akatsuki and she follows him around like a shadow. (She clearly considers him a known danger, one she can predict. There are some members of the group she avoids more than others, without even gathering preliminary information on them, and he takes note.) He experiments. He tests. He pushes her to excellence.

He calls her "girl," or "child," and she rarely speaks.

He lets it be known that he would prefer her to speak, and eventually she begins to initiate discussions on political analysis and sealing and natural chakra, all areas in which she has demonstrated a great aptitude- and in which he has conclusively _confirmed_ her aptitude, and doesn't appreciate the self-imposed limits she places on her own progress.

Sometimes, he wonders if she still remembers her family. An infant should not, but…

("I am sorry for your loss," she tells Itachi, with old, old eyes. She is seven and more dangerous than anyone but himself could guess. They call her 'brat,' or 'Orochimaru's little shadow,' when they call her anything at all. He wonders if she remembers her old name, still.)

Of course, shortly later he has to leave Akatsuki. The girl doesn't seem to mind that, at least. Not that it would have mattered if she had.

In exchange for some assistance with Senju cells and implanted Sharingan, Orochimaru arranges for Danzo's aid in conquering the Land of Rice Fields. It bothers the girl.

Which is interesting, so he pokes at it.

One day, she asks why he doesn't want the Mangekyou Danzo has, if he is so interested in the Sharingan. She's not _quite_ trying to encourage them to take each other out, he notices. She's too intelligent to think he'd fall for that. But it seems to have all the elements of a quickly discarded plan that nevertheless managed to spark her curiosity.

"That eye's chief use lies in covert attempts to alter the mind. I do not have the patience to pretend to answer to the Hokage, the Daimyo, the Jounin Commander, and a seemingly random collection of passers-bye."

She'd stiffened. She's-

Oh. How charming. She _actually remembers her father's rank_. And she's upset at the implication that he's been subject to Danzo's undetectable genjistsu.

If only her abilities had been part of a bloodline- but no, her acumen and frankly absurd memory-retention skills seem to be a solely a byproduct of mundanely heritable intelligence. A pity. Still, she's almost more useful as his assistant than she would have been as evidence of a proto-bloodline, which is saying something.

It's not that he gives her more freedom, after that conversation. It's that he's finally identified her chief weakness. Those younger than her, those weaker than her, those who would normally be stronger but are currently in pitiable circumstances …

And it solves a major annoyance for him: namely, the tedious administrivia of running a village is overtaking time that could be spent more productively with experiments. The various clan heads of the Land of Rice Fields were broken, beaten down, and weakened before he came. They accepted the strength of an S-Ranked nin to lead them, to unite them, far too eagerly.

If anything, that makes their pride sting _more_ when being directed to take their more minor concerns to an eight-year-old girl. But he lets it be known he expects her to handle it- watches her come to the conclusion that no one else will help, no one else will fix these problems, no one else will transform Oto from a loose collection of laboratories and angry and pride-struck nin into a _village_ that cares for its weaker members, if only out of self-interest.

("The weak may grow strong, and the strong may grow weak," she says, calmly, to one particularly vociferous protestor, unhappy with the idea of allocating village funds to pay for the salary of injured shinobi transferred to desk-work or teaching positions. "The wheel of fortune is always turning."

The ninja- high Chunnin rank, capable enough, with several promising young bloodline users in his clan- is at least canny enough to recognize a threat couched as a lesson. He casts a quick glance at her sleeves, which hide poison needles. At the small palms that can seal with a touch. He's aware enough of danger to hear the warning in her even tones, at least.)

Orochimaru instructs some of the smaller children to call her "nee-sama," and then he knows he has her for good. That time spent with Tusnade and Jiraiya was useful for something, at least.

* * *

Orochimaru's little shadow governs Oto while most of its older forces join (and are lost in) the invasion of Konoha.

("If your aim is to kill the Hokage, I believe you will be successful," she informs Orochimaru succinctly. It's not like telling him her opinion will do any harm, in this case. "But I don't believe the successful occupation or destruction of Konoha is feasible at this juncture, or, in the event of a miracle, won easily enough to be anything but ruinous for us, and if the aim is to spark a long-term, full-fledged war between Sand and Konoha I don't believe our chances for that are significantly better."

She likes Kimimaro well enough, and makes sure that he is aware that disagreement is _not_ disloyalty, and that for a ninja whose chief weapon is her brain, letting loyalty to an individual influence her objective analysis of a situation, would, in her opinion, be just as bad as active sabotage. She doesn't particularly care what Kabuto thinks, as she's pretty sure she's going to have to kill him at some point. Orochimaru, however, is perfectly aware she still has some troublesome sentiment for certain ninja residing in Konoha, so perhaps it's for the best she's not going, as she might be tempted to do something foolish.

Her opinion regarding the feasibility of the invasion is heard by the clans, the more prominent ninja, and the various personal experiments of their Kage who have been given enough freedom to gather in public, and it is much talked-over. Very few question Orochimaru- very few are allowed to. Kimimaro and Kabuto are perhaps the only others who can challenge her influence in Oto, and both are involved in the invasion. In that light, Orochimaru's decision to leave her behind to lead the village looks like a slight, as if she's too weak to be of use. Her power and influence among the clans declines.

She makes note of those foolish enough to treat her differently because of this, however. Very shortly, it will look as if Orochimaru was too prideful to listen to her sound advice, and her influence among those who are beginning to see Oto as a proper _village_ will increase. Which is good. Physical power is useful- even necessary- but it's political power that allows her to govern the training program, to keep some children free of the labs, and to modify the gladiatorial death-fights into gladiatorial "revive the losing party at the last minute and earn their personal loyalty forever," fights.

* * *

When Shikamaru Nara goes up against Orochimaru's forces in the wake of Sasuke's defection, he doesn't defeat his opponent.

The others win- although there's some evidence that Tayuga and Kimimarao retreated or were rescued, rather than being killed, and it's clear that Naruto was not able to defeat Sasuke or delay him long enough for capture- but Shikamaru is beaten soundly by a strange girl that appears out from nowhere. He doesn't know she's his twin. He doesn't know he _has_ a twin. He's aware, dimly, that he lost a sibling long ago. A little sister, maybe still-born- but he has never been told the details, and even intelligent children lose memory over time.

He is returned to the village with a too-thin Chouji and a note pinned to his jacket that says, "Try a little harder next time. Just because an opponent shows you mercy doesn't mean they'll bother to save your friend."

("You're clearly no threat to me on a physical level, so I might as well test your powers of deduction to give you and your friend a fighting chance," she'd mused, as he'd lain helpless at her feet. "Here, then, is my riddle: you and three of your allies are outside a bounty hunter's office. You are facing an immortal opponent. His comrade, an S-rank with five hearts and five elemental affinities who has fought against Hashirama himself, is watching but not motivated enough to interfere yet. Your opponent is capable of inflicting all the injuries he receives on anyone whose blood he tastes, once he draws a seal on the ground. How do you win without losing someone precious?" She appeared utterly unconcerned with his answer, though her eyes had glanced coolly toward Chouji's thinning frame. A quick analysis. She's assessing something, there.

It's not even a real riddle. What does she _want_?

"If my death would give my comrades time to run, then it'd be troublesome, but I guess that's what I'd have to do," he replies. Any response that leaves an opening for one of his supposed allies to die- a pretext for her to kill Chouji- is not an option. But the riddle… the riddle is not the opponent. She is the opponent. Chouji's need for medical attention is the opponent. He needs to _think_.

Her eyes go flat. "Wrong answer," she says, and there is a kunai to his neck. "Next time we meet, you'll have a better one," she says, and it's a command.

Then everything goes dark, and he wakes up in the hospital.)

For a few minutes, he is certain that Chouji is dead. If it had been up to his own skills, Chouji _would_ be dead. _Try a little harder next time_ , the note says. It haunts him for months.

* * *

"So, I heard you're the one that fought against Shikamaru," Sasuske says, an arrogant tilt to his head as he examines her. He knows she has power here, he sees it in the eyes of everyone around her. He measures her, assessing, and finds her wanting.

 _Really_.

She feels amusement bubble up. Perhaps it's based off of feelings she would rather not encourage in herself- condescension, superiority, a rather overly paternalistic regard- but amusement is rare enough that she lets herself enjoy it, anyway.

"If you were planning to lead into a request for a spar, I can schedule a session for us just before lunch tomorrow," she agrees, pleasantly enough, and no real interest in her voice. There's no threat in her manner, no attempt at posturing or power-play. She much prefers leaping over the pointless mundanities of conversation, and getting to the point of the matter.

She looks past him, at Orochimaru. "If it doesn't interfere in your training schedule for him?" she asks, and just like that, the power has shifted. Sasuske is the child torn between two rather estranged parents, rather than the stranger fighting to prove his place as heir.

Poor kid doesn't even notice. He's still scowling at her, a little confused now.

She could crush him easily, render him unconscious in an instant, and leave the lecture until he wakes up. But that's not the point. The point is to test him. To instruct by doing.

And a little humility will go a long way.

Sasuke is good- he has a lot of raw potential, more than her if she is going to be honest- but she has been the subject of Orochimaru's curiosity and attention since she was less than two years old, and he has never accepted anything less than her full effort. She's been a sealing master for ten years, using her "stripped" Sage mode seal to access the natural chakra she can sense for five, and she's been Oto's primary instructor for poisons and kenjutsu for the last two. (Orochimaru and Kabuto have her beat there in terms of skill, but they are not exactly interested in drilling the basics into the next generation. She created Oto's Ninja Academy, and there's a reason she created keeps her grip there so firm, but there's also a reason why she has to expend barely any effort in doing so.)

So she beats Sasuke within an inch of consciousness, then feeds him filtered natural chakra so he can get up to strength again, then beats him into immobility via a different method, then feeds him a little less chakra to get him on his feet again, then beats him senseless by outsmarting him, heals him up but feeds him still less chakra than before, then achieves a humiliatingly easy win by taking advantage of his emotional volatility, then feeds him a little less chakra than that… it goes on. And she doesn't use any techniques he can copy, besides taijustu and a few C-Rank Earth jutsu he already knows, so he can't win on that front, either.

It's dark by the time they end, and they never do get lunch.

"Excellent job," she praises warmly, as he lies panting on the ground for perhaps the twentieth time that afternoon. (She loves healing her sparring partners into fighting shape and then kicking their ass again. It's perhaps the most potent psychological weapon in her repertoire.) Sasuke has motivation, if nothing else. She feels her respect for him (previously almost nonexistent, as a small jealous corner of her is all-to-aware that he willingly threw away everything that was forcibly taken from her) increase. He has a goal to drive him forward. She can understand that, at least.

So she feeds him a little natural chakra, enough that he can walk with her to a nearby restaurant. "I think you have the opposite problem that Shikamaru does," she says calmly, half carrying him to the establishment. "Put it on my tab," she tells the owner, as she deposits the boy into a nearby chair and gives him a glass of water. "And you should be aware that keeping your passions so close to the surface makes you very easily baited and manipulated. It's no good being strong if you never think to ask questions like, 'Is the fact that my brother's ANBU handler had a recently harvested Mangekyou Sharingan capable of inflicting undetectable mind-altering genjistu significant?'"

She times her words well, and Sasuke chokes on the water.

This is not, technically, interfering in Orochimaru's plans at all. Whether Sasuke takes his revenge against Danzo or Itachi, he still needs to be strong, and Orochimaru's offer of power is still a temptation. And Orochimaru's perfectly aware she's always hated Danzo; setting Sasuke up to kill him has its own excuse ready-made.

"I'm not saying your brother didn't up and decide to kill your whole clan of his own free will," she continues, shrugging. "Actually, I'm of the personal opinion he was under no genjistu influence at all. Theoretically, his own Mangekyou would provide some defense to that technique. But although you had no reason to know that particular fact, you should at least have been at least asking questions like, 'How long does it take to kill three hundred people, anyway?' and 'Why did no one in the village notice in time to either raise the alarm or try to interfere?' Frankly, if Itachi was so skilled _and_ so unhinged, the most surprising fact of all is that he didn't just keep going until half the village was dead. No one in the clan happened to be out on a mission, or on a walk that time of night? Not one non-Uchiha was even wounded. It smells fishier than... well, a very fishy thing." Her voice is utterly disinterested.

There's a little spark of sympathy, deep in her heart. She squashes it. Yes, she's being cruel. But he has to think about these things some time. It would be even crueler to let him wait until he actually kills his brother. It's possible to be kind, in Oto, but if you do it the wrong way you just look weak. (She has too many lives in her care to take the risk of looking weak.) Sasuke is most vulnerable to psychological attack, but he'll toughen up. (It doesn't really make her feel better about what she's doing to him. Does that mean she still has a conscience left?)

Sasuke is trembling, perhaps in rage. Definitely in range. Probably the disjoint between cheerfully treating him to dinner and dumping all this horrific information into his lap is causing him some trouble.

"I'd also advise you not to take my word for it," she says. "You've just met me, after all, and it's not as if pointing out the inconsistencies in what people _say_ happened means I have any hard facts about what actually _did_ happen. If nothing else, your investigation should tell you more about the man you're trying to kill, which can only be of use to you."

He looks like he'd like to kill her where she stands. She doesn't blame him. Now for the important part.

She stares him dead in the eye. "I am not going to be kind. I am not going to coddle you. Being able to examine your own motivations and the flaws in your reasoning will make you a better ninja. You have many, many areas in which you need work, but your lack of _this_ ability is your _single. greatest. weakness._ "

That, at least, diverts him. She lets her words sink in, slowly.

"Your determination is impressive, but if you do not fix this problem, any power you gain will only ever be a weapon for others to point at _their_ enemies." She pauses. "Is it worth my time to train with you?" she asks, softly.

"You're manipulating me, too," he grunts out. _Good_. He gets it.

"Yes," she replies serenely. "And manipulating people with the truth- especially a truth that can actually be verified by the target of the manipulation- is one of the most dangerous and underhanded methods of control there is."

She waits.

"We'll train. But I don't trust you." He says.

That actually inspires a snort. "Good," she says. "There may be some people in this world who can simply act with your best interests at heart, Sasuke. But you won't find them here, and it's not wise to pretend you will. Now, what would you like for dinner?"

He gives her a glare.

"You're likely not hungry after what I've brought up," she concedes. She deliberately doesn't gentle her tone. She needs to be the practical voice of reason- and pretending or even expressing sympathy when she is the one to inflict the pain would be the grossest hypocrisy, and something about that technique has always smacked of abuse to her. She hates watching Kabuto do it. He's so effective. "But you'll hear and see far worse, here," she tells him. "I've no idea if you'll be able to avoid the labs or the arena. You are from Konoha, however, so if you pretend greater morals than you actually seem to possess, you may be able to escape such duties in favor of training your body to be a sufficient host for our Kage. At any rate, you'll have to learn to eat on an upset stomach. I recommend plain rice."

He twitches, a little, at her implication that he lacks morals. Understandable, as she hardly has room to talk, herself.

He orders rice.

They have a very silent dinner.

"Why are you even _doing_ this?" he bites out eventually, as he pecks at his meal.

She answers honestly, because she likes to surprise people with that, sometimes. "Someone's going to try to end the world in about three years," she replies. "They've got a pretty good shot, as things currently stand. And you do have some potential as a ninja, so it's in my best interests if you don't seem gullible enough to help him do it."

He scowls at her. It's clear he can't tell whether she's trying to lie to him or brush him off with a joke or even- possibly- telling the truth, and also that he doesn't want to admit his ignorance.

"Do you try to make everyone dislike you?" he asks.

For an absurd moment, she's tempted to laugh hysterically. Maybe she _is_ trying to do that. Even the children, the ones too young to understand the world they were born into- it hurts, when they look at her like she's a good person. Like she's someone they can trust. She's trying to make things better, she _is_. But this is Oto, and Orochimaru is Kage, and there is so, so little she can actually do. And what would leaving accomplish? She'd be nothing more than a prisoner in Konoha, even if her family might try to make her a well-treated one. House arrest, supervised excursions- she go stir-crazy. There'd be no chance of stopping Madara then.

The people who need her, the people she can help, are _here_.

She's trapped.

"You respect me more than you would have if I'd tried to be gentle about it," she says instead. "And respect matters, here."

She's so _tired_ , some days.

* * *

"What's your name, anyway?" Shikamaru asks (likely stalling to set up a preferred combo with his teammates, and backup from his sensei. She can still take them, no problem, but Shikamaru is noticeably better this time, and it's reassuring.) He's older now. Fourteen, maybe fifteen? Sasuke's fifteen, now, but she can't remember Shikamaru's birthday. (Doesn't know her own.)

"You can call me whatever you like," she says airily as she dodges a tendril of shadow, like the question doesn't get to her. Like she even _has_ a name, rather than the titles people call her. "Orochimaru's little shadow," and "nee-sama," and "oto-hime"… they're not so bad, as titles go.

He notices, and his eyes narrow. She doesn't want to see the pity hiding in them, so she looks at his hands, instead.

"I suppose I'll call you Nara, then," he says easily. "It's pretty obvious you were taken from our clan."

She shrugs.

"It's pretty obvious _you're_ trying to stall," she replies instead, throwing a magnetic seal that has him cursing as he slips out of his wire mesh shirt. "Any luck on that riddle I gave you?"

"That's not even a real riddle," he says. "And are you trying to flirt or something?"

"What- no! That's _disgusting_ ," she replies, her voice going high in surprise and alarm. It's instinctive, the first uncontrolled reaction she's ever shown him, and he hesitates, minutely. "And it might not be a real riddle, but you really had better solve it," she rallies back. Yeah. Time to make her escape.

Once snark-time is over, actual combat kicks up. In the end, Chouji's Human Bullet leaves a friction burn along her arm, and she's had to do a rather ungainly and painful split to avoid Ino's Mind-Transfer Jutsu. Neither would have been a problem if she hadn't been preoccupied preparing her response to the followup: Asuma Sarutobi's _Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder_.

" _Seriously_?" she asks Shikamaru.

"What, you have shields," he replies, piercing through said shields with his Shadow-Stitching Jutsu. She dodges. (Asuma had been blown back far- well, not far enough for her to really be safe from a jounin, but far enough for a little breathing room. Just a moment's worth.)

"I also have _poison,_ " she retorts, turning word to deed, and spitting it straight _through_ her shield. Hah. He collapses.

Overdramatic reactions ensue.

"Oh, it's just a paralytic," she tells her brother's jounin-sensei, annoyed. "He'll spend a couple of days being even more lazy than usual, is all."

She makes off with a clean getaway –or, well, minor superficial injuries, which is almost the same thing- and half-sighs. Team Ten is getting pretty good. She won't be able to do this again for too much longer, and probably not at all if their sensei's around. It's nice to see her brother well- there's no denying it eases something in her- but she can't let herself pretend actual capture would end anything but tragically.

She still has Danzo to deal with, after all. Among other things.

As she heads back to Oto, she toys with the idea of writing a letter to Shikaku Nara. "Please inform your son about some pertinent details; this is getting Skywalker-twins level of disturbing?" No, if he's already all but confirmed she's a Nara, Shikamaru will likely ask himself.

* * *

Shikamaru _had_ been operating under the assumption that Dad's younger brother had had an indiscretion before he'd died. He'd decided on it as a working theory after the incident in the Land of Hot Springs which would _never be spoken of again_.

Now, he's not so sure. The girl (he refused to call her his 'rival,' as Ino claimed) hadn't even bothered trying to respond to his assertion of her clan status, despite clearly owing loyalty to another village. That wasn't the behavior of a by-blow, or a distant relation, or someone entirely unconnected to the Nara clan. That was the reaction of something who knew their own heritage, and didn't consider it a secret at all.

"In some ways that seemed more like a spar than a real fight," Asuma-sensei says, sitting by Shikamaru's hospital bed. Ino snorts.

Inoichi comes in -to take their report, likely- though Ino gives him a wave and Asuma continues to make conversation.

"And how did she know Shikamaru was lazy?" their sensei teases. "It's one thing if it's obvious to us, but random Oto nin are something else."

"She was the one that wrote that note," Shikamaru says. He doesn't bother to use more words; they all know what he's talking about.

"And we ran into her on the mission in the Land of Hot Water," Ino states, placing a hand over Shikamaru's mouth. If he hadn't been paralyzed, he would have sat up in bed. "She was trying to avoid one of those red-clouded cloaked guys when she spotted us. Then she called Shikamaru a moron, told us we probably didn't have the sense to tell that fire was hot, and knocked us all out. When the three of us woke up, she had already henged our clothes into tacky-looking kimonos, painted Shikamaru's face with geisha makeup, taken most of our stuff, and left us with the bill for the in where we were registered under the name 'The Troublesome Trio."

Asuma stares.

"You promised not to tell!" Chouji says to Ino, looking horrified. His face is brick red. Shikamaru makes an indignant noise against Ino's palm.

Asuma looks like he has the mental image of Chouji in a kimono, and is not appreciating it.

"It wasn't relevant at the time," Ino said cheerfully. "Now that we've seen her again, and she's practically admitted to being a Nara, _and_ she's demonstrated a significant level of skill rather than just showing how easy it is for someone our age to utterly humiliate Shikamaru, protocol requires us to inform our superiors of even seemingly unimportant and trivial encounters."

Inoichi was staring at him.

"The one that wrote the note…you never did receive a full debrief after Sasuke's defection, did you?" he asks, his voice seeming to come from far away.

Shikamaru blinks, and makes a small sound against Ino's mouth, who pulls it away. "So she really is a Nara, then?" he asks.

Inoichi seems to be about to respond, decides not to, then turns to the group. "It resembled a spar more than anything else?" he confirms.

Asuma-sensei nods in reply.

Inoichi pauses. "I'm… going to go look some things up. And speak to some people. Any idea of a name, or a title? Something I can cross-reference before the full debrief?"

"I don't know about a title," Ino replies, "but from what I could see-" she shares a glance with Shikamaru, who blinks lazily in agreement- "it doesn't look like she _has_ something that can be used as a name. Not a real one. From her reaction, I'd guess what whatever title or call sign she has is very, very explicitly not a name, and that it can't be confused with one."

Inoichi's face goes blank.

"She said I could call her whatever I wanted," Shikamaru volunteers. There's something queasy in his stomach. The 'you missed something, you missed something' he'd felt after Chouji had taken those food pills in the fight after Sasuke's defection. Now he wonders if that feeling had had another cause, even then.

"And _did_ you call her something?" Inoichi asks, intent. He's not asking if any of them called her something. He's asking if _Shikamaru_ called her something. And Shikamaru somehow doubts the intensity in Inoichi's eyes is motivated entirely by the rage-inducing idea that a child could go through life without someone ever bothering to give them a name.

"…I said I'd call her "Nara?"

Inoichi nods, deliberately. "Well. We can work with that. I'll be by later."

Deduction: His rival's reply was not mere deflection, even if it had been intended as such.

Deduction the second: That _Shikamaru's_ gift of a name would have had particular significance to his rival.

Deduction the third: His rival is not a distant Nara cousin. Which left-

Asuma-sensei straightens from his slouch, face pale. "It's not-"

Inoichi looks at him.

"The Third said she was dead!" he protests.

"Some parties remained less than convinced," Inoichi says, flatly.

"But the Hokage-"

"I doubt Tsunade knows anything about the matter," Inoichi continues, running over him. "So I can assure you with certainty that we do not have an issue with the Hokage." He turns to leave, glances at Shikamaru, then says gently, "Your father will be by shortly."

Shikamaru feels cold.

Asuma-sensei closes his eyes and, for the briefest of moments, looks like he's about to be sick.

"Is this something we should know about?" Shikamaru asks, distantly. It might be classified beyond his level, of course, in which case he'd have to use more covert means to gather intel. His brain is whirring, and he's not liking any of the thoughts it's coming up with. He's not sure if he's madder at himself, the Hokage, or his parents.

"…I think it best you three hear from someone who has more than conjecture," Asuma-sensei offers, fingers tugging for a cigarette. "Maybe when your father-"

"The Hokage said my sister was dead," Shikamaru says, quietly, not wanting to talk about his father. "And he _lied_?"

It's not even a hard conclusion to draw.

"It's possible he was mistaken-" Asuma starts, and cuts himself off, rubbing his hair. "The identification was made by- forces not under the authority of the Jounin Commander. The Hokage gave his personal assurance that the information was accurate, and he had the bodies of all the perpetrators involved in the kidnapping and- and death, delivered to the Nara compound. So. Either the Hokage lied outright, or he gave your father an _iron-clad personal assurance_ about a matter in which there was uncertainty."

Ino has her hand over her mouth. "Are we… are we going to talk to Tsunade about it? Can we get her back? Or at least not declare her-" Ino swallows.

"If Tsunade's not listing Sasuske as a missing nin, I don't see how she can claim a kidnapped child as one," Shikamaru says flatly. The he shuts up.

…He's not mad at Tsunade, really. If he starts thinking about the people he is angry about, he- he doesn't know what will happen.

He wants to shout, to throw something, to pound the walls, and he can't because of this stupid paralytic poison- poison shot at him by his _sister_ , after he'd directed a possibly-lethal attack from a full jounin towards _her_ – and he's never- he's never _been_ angry like this. There are no words for the fury he's feeling right now. There are tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. Humiliating, rage-induced tears.

He can't _speak_ for it.

So then, of course, his dad comes in.

He _wants_ to hurt his father. It's not fair, it's not right, but he _wants_ to, and with the appearance of someone he can direct this rage towards, his voice returns.

"Do you want to tell me why, when my sister asked for her name, I _didn't know it_?" Shikamaru rasps.

It goes downhill from there.

* * *

 _Maybe if you'd ever_ mentioned _her, I would have been able to_ remember _something!_ The words ring in his head, afterwards.

"He _is_ a teenage boy," Inoichi says. "It makes things tough."

Shikaku huffs a laugh. There's no joy in it.

"…Maybe you should offer to replay that memory for him," he says at last, to Inoichi. "It'll hurt, but… Shikamaru has a point. It'll hurt worse if we keep him from information he could use to get her back. Shikako seems to acknowledge that there's a bond between the two of them, at least."

Gone unspoken is the fact that there's been no such effort to reach out to him. It could be because, as an experienced ninja, he's more likely to be successful in a capture attempt.

…Though if that's the case, it's also unlikely there will be any attempts to contact him in the future. And Yoshino isn't out of the village often enough, and if she were she wouldn't be seen as anything but bait for a trap. If anyone's going to bring her home- convince her to _come_ home(he can't believe she's still _alive_ )- it's going to have to be Shikamaru. Depriving his son of information would be a poor choice.

"I don't even know why I _believed_ him," Shikaku said, rubbing his face. He's talking about that day nearly six years after his daughter's kidnapping, in the Hokage' office with his Hokage and the Elder Council. That dim dawn when the Third had finally given the news. "You never did."

Inoichi's hand lands on his shoulder. "Outsider's perspective. If it had been Ino," he hides a wince, and shakes his head. "And I don't interact with the high-rollers in the Hokage Office as much as you do, so there's less of a rapport," he adds, but there's a frown there, now.

Shikaku doesn't know if he'd go so far as to call his relationship with the other leaders of village policy a rapport, but he nods anyway. Though… there's something… there's a thought, a thought trying to gather itself into coherence inside Shikaku's mind …but it disperses almst as soon as it forms.

Inoichi is looking at him carefully.

"It's nothing," Shikaku replies, shaking his head.

The concern doesn't leave Inoichi's eyes.

…It's just… it's been a difficult day, that's all. Of course Inoichi has reason to be concerned for his mental state. …Shikako's been alive, been hurting and alive for years (there's a part of him that can't believe it), his wife still has to be told, his son is understandably furious with him (why _had_ he believed the Third?) …Shikaku shakes his head, again, to clear it.

His friend deliberately changes the subject, tries for something more lighthearted, and Shikaku can feel his shoulders loosen with relief, because it works.

"That personal connection's not just a twin bond acting up," Inoichi says. "Shikako definitely sees him as her brother. From what I've heard from Ino, when Shikamaru accused her of flirting she practically hurled," Inoichi says.

Shikaku huffs again, and this time there might actually be a little laughter in it.

"It still seems like a miracle that she's alive," Shikaku confesses, running his fingers in his hair in a nervous tic he hasn't done since they were teenagers. "I listen to you, and to Asuma, and Shikamaru, and all the evidence lines up, I _know_ she's out there. But whenever I try to make a plan to bring her back, it's like there's still a part of me saying, 'She's dead. Stop looking.'"

"It seems hard to believe, still," Inoichi offers, voice nonjudmental.

"Yes," Shikaku says. "That's exactly it." (That's _exactly_ it.)

* * *

Inoichi goes home, and carefully punches a hole in his wall. "Shit," he says. " _Shit_."

How did he _miss_ this?

* * *

"Ino," he says the next morning, over breakfast. "You have some free time for Clan training today, right?"

"Sure," she says. She's still worried about Shikamaru. She's fifteen. She'll have mastery in a few more years, but she's not there yet. It's monstrously unfair to burden her with this.

But. If he gets taken off the playing field…

He needs a backup plan.

Konoha needs a backup plan.

"We're going to establish the Regency protocols," he says.


	2. Crack: Otohime promoted

"We received… a note."

Tsunade looks at the note.

She looks at the note some more.

"What. The. Hell." she says.

* * *

(The contents of the note read as follows:

 _This man was executed for bloodline theft._ –Sasuke Uchiha, Clan Head of the Uchiha, Founding Clan of Konoha, In Exercise of His Solemn Right and Duty

 _This man was executed because his penchant of using undetectable mind-control on everyone who disagreed with him offended me on levels both personal and professional. Also, he kidnapped kids and he had a disgusting arm. Did you even see his arm? Look at his arm._ –A Concerned Citizen Who Felt Like Taking The Law Into Her Own Hands Today

P.S. _Oh, hey Hokage-sama. I'd apologize for not letting you join in on the "execute the Bloodline Thief," stuff, because it's clear he stole a bunchload of Senju cells too, but I was pretty sure you'd been hit with the undetectable mind-altering genjitsu at least once. For all I knew you thought he was the cutest, fluffiest bunny in the park, or perhaps a kindly uncle figure. No hard feelings, am I right?_

P.P.S. _Sasuke's having a sleepover at my place. Indefinitely._

 _She is NOT my girlfriend, don't listen to her.-_ Sasuke

P.P.P.S. _You are totally allowed to write him admonishing letters telling him to keep his mind out of the gutter, though, because I don't know how he gets "girlfriend" out of "sleepover."_

 _IGNORE HER SHE IS HIGH ON PAINKILLING NATURAL CHAKRA_

P.P.P.P.S. _But I can still write! So, to wrap up… Cheers? Don't invade us, because we totally did you a favor! Any last words, Sasuke?_

 _DANZO, I HOPE YOU GO STRAIGHT TO HELL_

P.P.P.P.P.S. _Those were good last words. If you guys could put them on his tombstone, that would be great. )_

"…You also might want to take a look at Elder Shimura's arm, Hokage-sama," the Chunnin says meekly. Tsunade looks longingly at her sake bottle. "Fine. Show me his goddamn arm already."

She goes. She looks at the arm.

She looks at the sake bottle again.

"I am seriously considering granting the Uchiha kid's request about the tombstone," she says.

Then she pauses. Because if the Sasuke Uchiha who was totally obsessed with achieving revenge by killing the brother who suddenly and inexplicable slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan had instead decided to go after the man who has a mind-control eye… that implies a lot of things, doesn't it.

Crap. This is going to be a shitstorm.

Well, she has to trust someone with the cleanup.

* * *

He's five minutes late coming into the office. She really is not in the mood.

"Inoichi," she barks. "Danzo Shimura is dead, and I'm going to need you to investigate everyone who has ever been in contact with him for lingering traces of mind control."

Hopefully, he can react professionally and not panic. Hopefully, he has not been affected by the mind-control himself, or implanted with any sleeping triggers.

"Oh thank goodness," Inoichi says, slumping in relief.

There is a pause.

It is not a particularly pleased pause.

Tsunade cracks her knuckles. He raises his hands. "I thought-

"-that I was under his undetectable mind-control and thought he was a fluffy bunny," Tsunade finishes sourly. "Right. Fuck. Who else did you trust with the counter-operation?"

He opens his mouth to answer her- then pauses. "Do you mind if I see the body before I answer that question?"

Tsunade blinks. Right. _Right_. Undetectable mind-control could just make it _seem_ like Danzo was dead.

They troop over to Danzo's corpse. Look at Danzo's stolen eye (mostly gouged out.) Looks at Danzo's …Sharing _arm_. Ugh.

"…Of course, now that I think of it, we could both be under undetectable mind-control right now," he says, as he stares at the corpse.

"…Ah. True," she acknowledges.

* * *

Ino huffs impatiently.

"I do not understand why we are doing this," Shino says, holding the bullhorn and a folded giant paper banner.

Hinata just looks green. "And now they are leaving the room where the body is kept," she narrates.

Hanabi is standing next to her, Byakugen also active. They are accompanied by Iroha Hyuga, the most recent Academy student to have activated his Byakugen. He hadn't even gotten a chance to tell his parents yet, which Ino regarded as a sorely needed stroke of luck.

"Status confirmation?" Ino asks.

"Yes," Hanabi says.

"Yes," Iroha confirms.

"Yes," Shino says.

He holds out one of his bugs to her, the one most recently arrived. She scans its mind. It had been a difficult skill to learn, and an even more difficult one to invent from scratch. But Dad had told her, if he ever got compromised, she needed to have backup plans she hadn't told him, and an ace up her sleeve that he wouldn't be able to anticipate. "And a fourth confirmation directly from the mind of a kikachi," Ino says. "Excellent," she hisses. "All right, people. Operation Clearsight over! Good job, and tell me when they get to a window."

"Right about… now," Hanabi says.

"DAD!" Ino shouts through the bullhorn. Most of the street turns around to stare at her. Good. Secrecy is Danzo's ally; it won't help them. Danzo might be dead, but he has to have contingencies still in place, and it's Ino's job to be too obnoxious and unpredictable for them. "We've had three sets of likely-untampered Byakugen eyes and a pair of kikachi on you for the last twenty minutes, and you haven't talked with anybody but Tsunade yet. Good job playing bait! And apparently it really _is_ Danzo in that room, so I think we're clear. CODE JADE, people! CODE JADE! The threat of being accosted randomly by a psychopathic elder with undetectable mind-control is officially OVER!"

Hinata gives a ragged cheer. Iroha claps.

"What did you mean about the random undetectable mind-control?" one chunnin asks, paused from walking past them in the street.

"Danzo can't do it anymore!" Ino exclaims happily. "Because he's dead!" She hugs him in her excitement, then punches the air. The chunnin looks a little dazed.

* * *

" _That's_ my girl," Inoichi beams. "Good job sweetie," he calls back through the window. "I knew you could do it!"

"Ino was part of the counter-operation?" Tsaunde asks. She is _not_ pleased with the girl's blatant revelation of S-Class secrets, but she supposes if Inoichi was short on options and manpower, his own daughter was a natural choice.

"Ino _was_ the counter-operation." Inoichi replies.

Tsunade stares at him. "Ino and…."

"Ino and whoever she managed to confirm as not being likely mind-control targets."

"I thought this was an _official_ counter-operation," Tsunade replies, annoyed. Maybe retirement was going to Inoichi's head. "Why not involve other jounin? Or Ibiki? Or Shikaku?"

Inoichi flinches, minutely.

"…Oh." Tsunade says, numbly. Then… "Danzo probably _did_ get to me, huh?"

"It seems to be event-specific," Inoichi says reassuringly, which is not much help. "I've yet to identify anyone hit with general commands, like 'Trust me implicitly.'"

Of course, that's assuming Inoichi has a way to detect undetectable mind-altering genjitsu. But hell. Maybe he does. "Any idea what he ordered Shikaku to do?" she asks, rubbing her head.

"Told him to stop looking for his daughter," Inoichi replies, voice ice. "Told him she was dead."

There is a pause, as that sinks in.

Then, because Tsunade is a Hokage and has to think of practicalities first, without letting her sympathies overwhelm her: "The daughter in Oto?" Tsunade asks, a suspicion forming. "The daughter in Oto who pinned a note to her brother's jacket a few years ago and whose handwriting you can confirm?"

Inoichi blinks. "Yes."

She hands him the letter.

He reads it.

He looks at her, she nods, he looks back to the letter.

"There _is_ evidence that she tends to swing between a very serious, practical persona and… well, _this_ ," Inoichi says, looking at the increasingly sloppy handwriting on the page with raised eyebrows. "Usually the mania tends to come out when she's in a more relaxed environment, which does not always mean a safer one."

"If _I'd_ just finished my plan to kill the man who was mind-controlling everyone, I'd be relaxed, too," Tsunade mutters. "Well, I suppose the two of us will have to set up a plan to inform the people who need to know, and to see how badly compromised we are."

Inoichi looks faintly guilty.

"What?" Tsunade asks. She has a bad feeling about this.

"Ah- you realize that admit that it's likely Danzo had several contingency plans in place, right?"

"Right," Tsunade replies. "Which is why _we_ need a plan."

"And you realize that the Nidaime Hokage proposed, and the Daimyo concurred, and it was then established in official statue, that when any division has been compromised to this degree, the ones who deal with the problem have supervisory control over all affected operations until the damage has been assessed by non-affected personnel? And… you remember that I deliberately put myself out of the loop on the counter-operation, and that you yourself are likely compromised?"

"…Are you trying to tell me that the counter-operation is still running?" Tsunade asks. "That- wait, Inoichi- is INO in charge of MY village? She's barely fifteen! You can't put Ino in charge of the village!" She raises a fist.

"Hey, it was the Nidaime and the Daimyo who put Ino in charge of the village, not me. Or Danzo! I suggest you blame Danzo," Inoichi says, hurriedly.

"Ino is FIFTEEN," Tsunade says. "And she can't get assistance from anyone in her 'supervisory role' until they're pronounced clear for at _least_ six months, Inoichi, I know that statute as well as you! Ino _cannot_ run the entirety of Konoha for _six months_ by _herself_. There has to be another option."

"Um. Well. It's up to you whether it's a _helpful_ option, but." He pauses, and Tsunade waits with baited breath. "You _could_ always put Sasuke and Shikako in charge," he says. "They technically qualify under the terms of the law, and t _hey're_ obviously clean."

Tsunade glares at him. "You know what? Fine. _Fine_ ," she barks. They've made their way to the mission desk by now, and she calls over- ah. Iruka. Good. "Iruka! Send a letter to-"

Inoichi coughs.

Tsunade closes her eyes. Oh. Yes. That.

"Iruka. You heard Ino Yamanaka on the bullhorn accusing elder Shimura of randomly accosting members of the village with some undetectable version of mind control, correct?" Tsunade asks. All she wants is a drink. Is that too much to ask?

"Ah- you want me to speak with her?" Iruka asks, looking at Inoichi's strained face and Tsunade's barely reigned-temper. "I can give her a talking-to about appropriate behavior."

"Yes to the former, no to the latter," Tsunade grits out. "You are to report to Yamanaka Ino, Head of the Counter-Operations Forces, and inform her that the Hokage has requested that a letter be sent to Shikako Nara and Sasuke Uchiha, thanking them for their services and requesting that-" this bit is difficult to get out "-and requesting that they join her in the supervisory panel that will be controlling all essential Konoha operations for the next six months, or until such time as essential personnel have been cleared, whichever comes later."

"Um. Is this some kind of joke?" Iruka asks.

"No," Tsunade snaps. "Now SCRAM."

ONE HOUR LATER:

A giant reproduction of the letter pinned to Danzo's corpse has been plastered to the Hokage monument, courtesy of Ino's Covert Operations Unit (also called the Konohamaru Corps.)

ONE MONTH LATER:

"The Council of Three has been convened!" Ino says, banging the gavel.

"This is not where I saw us going," Shikako mutters.

ONE YEAR LATER:

" _What_?" Naruto yells. "Sasuke's back?"

"The important thing to remember," Sakura says, "is that he's _technically not the Hokage_. He just sort of... acts like one sometimes, when Ino takes a spa day or Shikako has to go supervise things in Sound."


	3. Otohime to Otokage: The Fourth War

**The AU Where Shikako Becomes Otokage: A Scene from the Fourth War**

The bijuu bomb is nearing headquarters, where Shikako's stationed as a sensor with Inoichi and Shikaku and that giant globe that enhances sensory abilities or whatever it does.

(The Kages mostly all _started out_ at headquarters, anyway. So it makes some sense that Shikako would be there, too.)

The bomb heads for them, Shikaku tells her to run. She looks at him. He calls her Otokage, and says she has a duty to her people, and tells her to _go_ \- (he needs her to live, he wants to tell her he loves her and he's proud of her and she'll always be his little girl but _then she won't run_ , so tells Shikamaru to tell her, and he calls her Otokage) and she leaves.

She leaves to go straight up and seal the bijuu bomb before it hits headquarters. It's a slapdash job, especially with all that terrible chakra, and she loses her hand up to the wrist.

(However. She now has a bijuu bomb sealed away. She an definitely think of a giant target she wants to use it on.)

[Shikaku and Shikamaru, and Inoichi and Ino had a very touching goodbye scene. And then they didn't die, which an amazing relief and also a little awkward. And, now, via Inoichi, Shikaku is trying to tell his now one handed daughter _not_ to go near the battlefield full of demonic chakra that, as a sensor, she's demonstratively too vulnerable to. (She had tested it- close contract with that much tailed beast chakra all but causes her to pass out.) She won't be able to function at her full capabilities, and in a fight like this, that's a death sentence.

Shikako points out that 1) it would be very rude to fail to return the juubi's gift 2) this way she's in the flight path of any more bijuu bombs haded toward HQ, and she's thinking of starting a collection 3) she's just going to shove the damn bomb down the monster's throat and then get out of the way, it's not like she's staying to have a tea party 4) think of this as the culmination of four years of teenage rebellion he'd previously gotten a pass on and 5)she didn't get to be leader of a Hidden Village at age 12 (the age she was when Sasuke defected and Itachi killed Orochimaru) by being a wimp.

She _is_ the Otokage, and it appears that she needs to show the alliance what that means, because apparently her family thinks that means she'll just up and leave when things get tough, and damnit it, she get's that he's upset, but _she never left them_.

(She was taken, neither of them say. She's already said more than she meant to.)

 _Then you had better come back alive_ , Shikaku sends to her instead, and starts detailing the best way to implement her plan- and to coordinate with the other forces- as she sprints toward the battlefield.


	4. ROOT Shikako, Age Sixteen

In this AU, Orochimaru doesn't adopt. Shikako is kept by Danzo, instead. Raised by ROOT. She remembers her family. She remembers her brother.

She'll him again (as she meets Team Seven) at age 16, as "Sai."

Shikamaru will look right through her.

...Naruto's totally going to prompt her into talking about it.

He says something about how much of a friend Sasuke is, doesn't she know what that's like? And he's trying to _talk_ to her, he's so intently trying to talk to her, and it's the first time in years and _years_ someone's done this, because once Danzo was certain of her conditioning they've only ever been talking _at her._

"No," she says smiling. But she doesn't want his pity, she doesn't want his pity. So she has to give him something. He;ll know if it's not true. She focuses, and brings forward a happy memory into her mind. Makes it real. "I have a brother, though. When we were little we used to nap in the sunshine, and I would tickle him into moving into a better spot when the shadow of the roof moved across the grass and it wasn't warm anymore. Or I would pretend to eat his fingers, that was always kind of funny."

"That sounds cool," Naruto says cheerfully. "What was the last game you played with him?"

Her smile does not slip. It doesn't (It does change, though, and Naruto notices.) "Hide and seek," she says. She wants to tell _someone_ , oh how she _wants_ to.

"Huh!" Naruto says. "So how's he doing now? And- hey- were you doing the hiding or the seeking?"

(Naruto may actually have some sort of undiagnosed perception-ability. Talking-no-Jutsu. Something like that. She _knew_ he had it, before she even met him. But there's something in the way he asks- no, more something in the remembered victory of that moment, the terrified and vicious satisfaction she felt when Orochimaru had to tell Danzo, hours later, "Shikamaru Nara is supposed to be a _boy_." She'd _saved_ her brother, and made sure Danzo's conditioning was instead directed at the one child in all of Konoha that wasn't enough of a child to be swayed by it.)

"Neither," she says cheerfully. "I made _him_ hide." There's a curl of satisfaction in her smile that almost borders on the cruel. "And he's doing fine. Last I saw, he was happy and healthy and whole, and surrounded by people who loved him. And in circumstances that ensured he was well-protected enough to stay that way." _(_ He'd looked _through_ her. And it hurt like taking acid to her face, and having to stay still and smile through it afterwards. But that didn't change the _relief_ at seeing him well _.)_

 _"_ And how were you?" Naruto asked.

It should crack her open, but she's been expecting something like this. "How do you think I am?" she asks teasingly, almost cheerfully, managing a deflection. Managing a smile. She tries to make it gentle. Naruto's a good kid. That emotion's real enough.

"I think you're lonely," Naruto says honestly. "And I think you want your brother to spend time with you again."

(Well. Maybe she did get cracked open, just now. But... maybe she does need to be honest, rather than keeping the poison in. This could help her mental stability, in the long run. There is always, always a part of her now that is coolly analyzing her situation, her danger, how to respond, what Danzo expects, what she needs to do and how she needs to act to keep those she loves safe. Likely as not, she's been cracked for a long, long while now.)

"My brother doesn't love me anymore," she says, smiling again, and lets Naruto see the truth of it in her eyes. This is the first smile of hers that shows teeth, and it could almost be a grin if her teeth weren't gritted so tightly together. And she can see Naruto wants to protest, he's going to protest and she can't _bear_ it because _it won't be true_ -

"It not his fault," she says, standing up and brushing her pants off. "I didn't do anything to make him stop loving me, and he didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes these things happen."

She doesn't catch Naruto's eyes. Time to change the subject before he starts shouting again. She can't bear optimism right now. "I don't think that's the problem you have with your friend. I think he probably loves you back. But that doesn't mean he's _coming_ back, and it doesn't mean he won't try to kill you or Sakura. He might even hate you. Not because you deserve it, but because he hates himself. And he's got too much practice pretending that he doesn't love his brother to acknowledge that he cares about you guys, or let himself act on it. So your mission to get Sasuke back is pretty much going to be a failure."

"If you think this is going to be a failure, then why are you coming along?" Sakura asks. Her voice lacks the grate of annoyance, and Shikako wonders how much she overheard. Hopefully not too much.

Sai- the original Sai- would have said "orders."

Shikako-as-Sai chatters on as they walk, instead. (There's a reason she was chosen for this mission- she's the only ROOT agent under twenty-five even approaching passable undercover behavior. She's still surpised she was chosen, considering that she doesn't look utterly dissimilar from her clan. Unless Danzo's an idiot, it means he probably has her father under genjutsu. Sadly, she's seen Danzo be an idiot many times, and chillingly competent many times more than that, so she actually has no idea what would happen if she "accidentally" paraded herself in front of Shikaku Nara.)

"First off, sometimes total, horrific, complete and agonizing failure is still better than not trying at all, and I believe this may be one of those times. Second, I'm an optimistic soul who believes that out injuries will be grievous but not fatal, except for Naruto, who will only suffer wounds to the heart. Third, I've got orders from those nice old people back in Konoha who, while a mite out of touch with reality, really are too much trouble to avoid. Fourth, I'm curious."

"You sound like Shikamaru," Naruto grumps, "saying everything's troublesome but going and doing it anyway."

Shikako keeps her face perfectly still, and is very glad nobody is looking at her just then.

 **Discovery**

It's quite possible that Sakura, when treating Sai's injuries, does an anonymous and covert blood test to "try to find Sai's brother." It's totally not allowed to do, and might well get her demonted to genin, but it was this or let Naruto investigate, and that would clearly be worse. Besides, she's not going to get caught. She's using it for her "test case" while learning to work the DNA comparison equipment, and she's not expecting to find much. A 12% match with one of the clan members, or first-generation ninja. Instead it shows 50% with... Shikamaru Nara. And Sakura's so confused, and she shouldn't be talking to anyone about it, but she stops by the flower shop to talk to Ino and try to find out if it was possible Shikamaru was adopted, or at least adopted form another clan member.

Inoichi hear enough to realize he really wants to hear more, than wheedles the rest out of her. Then he kind of ...pounces.

"This is a really stupid idea," "Sai" says, still tied up in front of Ino and Inoichi and Naruto and Sakura and Kakashi and Yamato. "You guys are probably all going to die."

"We're not going to die," Sakura says reassuringly.

"Sai" looks at her like she's several cards short of a deck. "You don't have a plan. You jumped into investigating something because it seemed wrong, and didn't make any backup plans for if you get attacked or framed for murder or have to run away and start a new life as a missing nin or need to set up blackmail to defend your loved ones when they're hostages."

"Maa, maa, we're not going to become missing nin." Kakashi says, book in hand.

"Sai" frowns, in reall annoyance. Then breathes in, and moves her tongue against her teeth. Then begins to speak, very slowly, with her eyes blinking closed every few seconds. As if she's doing something that takes great effort. "Have you taught your students to survive political assassination attempts in the event... that they have something... someone wants... or are you expecting the Hokage... to be able to swoop in and save them... at the last minute... pulling on... old... friendships..."

She starts to cough, great, hacking coughs. Inoichi pries her mouth open, and swears when he sees the seal.

Shikako knows it's not killing her- she judged it well. Just a brunch against the mental influence components- she was telling a story. Drawing paralels to Kakashi's life.

And she told herself she was telling to story to Tenzo, to _Yamato_.

So the seal reacts just enough to punish- the way it would punish if she was only talking to another ROOT member- and not enough to kill.

Then. She makes herself instructions- what she ought to do- then deliberately hides all reason and motivation behind a shadow in her mind.

Stares at Kakashi the entire time. Then, in a pause for breath, "old dog... _new_ tricks..." she reaches out for his face. "And _now_ he doesn't wantyour Mangekyou," she whispers, hand hovering near his covered eye. She doesn't know what she just said means, and if she realizes what she did do, she'll die- so she covers that moment with a shadow, casts it into the abyss, and passes out.

Inoichi's cursing up a storm. Huh. Maybe Yamanaka are sensitive to someone doing that kind of thing to their own mind. (What kind of thing?) Good thing she never tried it around Fu.

 **Spilling Her Guts**

Shikako wants to be on the team to kill Danzo, but they won't let her, so instead she keeps trying to tell them cryptic phrases. If what she says is clear enough for _her_ to immediately understand what it means even in the absence of context, then it won't matter that she put that context behind a shadow, and then she'll die.

At one point she manages to describe several features of "Orochimaru's experiment who looks exactly like Danzo" (because he _is_ Danzo, a fact she won't let herself know while she's talking) and the twelve uses of "that Sharingan trick that rewrites reality so that you don't die."

But she's using spiritual manipulation to hide 1) what she means when she says something 2) what she _just_ said and 3) what other people just said, especially if they were asking about Danzo and her response to that is to give away info about Danzo. It's pretty easy for her to figure out that any response she makes to a question about Danzo is going to be something 1)truthful and 2) a massive problem for Danzo, and if she figures out she's doing that, she'll die.

Eventually she starts repeating concepts- she can't remember what she's already said, or what she hasn't said, or reliably understand the context of what is going on- and devolving into a massive gibberish to convey as much information as possible without letting herself figure out what she's saying.

"I'm going to knock you out," Inoichi says, gently, after her third repetition to the effect that Danzo is strong enough to kill them all, and won't die the first time, or second, or third.

"No," 'Sai' rasps, "no you don't _understand_ , you'll die, you'll get found out, and- mindreaders and smart people and the whole clan will die, even the children, traitors can't be children so they die or get broke because traitors are just corpses waiting to happen, and I was supposed to _save_ Shika, you can't let him die!" This is not the first time Shikako's said something that points at very nasty shenanigans involving the Uchiha Massacre, and of the children Ino, at least, is starting to catch on.

Her pallor, and general disturbance at "Sai's" plight, are now interspersed with quick assessing glances toward her father, evaluating _his_ reaction to this information to see if it might be correct. (Sakura is focusing her medical chakra to try to keep "Sai's" adrenaline spikes and rapid breathing in check, and Naruto started holding Sai's hand at one point.

Kakashi, like Inoichi, has caught on that this is an interrogation, now- Inochi _had_ to make it one, had to use his verbal and analytical techniques to get all the pertinent info as quickly and accurately as possible, or else Shikako would destroy herself trying to tell them what she thought they needed to hear.

And they _had_ needed to hear it- the team Kakashi's gone to round up now consists of Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, and Anko, with watching Hyuuga to call the Hokage if need be. There's also the possibility of ROOT children being used to _shield_ Danzo, so - in addition to having Yamato hold those kids away from the battle- they'll be calling in Shibi Aburame and his clanmembers (who will be needed to "get the kid who sacrificed himself for Shino" -Inoichi is going to be _sick_ ), and someone to deal with _Fu. (_ At which point Inoichi added up Shikako's previous hints and his own uncharacteristic behavior during and after that conversation with Danzo, realized Danzo could _mind-control people_ , and said so in Shikako's hearing- which prompted her to give another wipe of her damn spiritual manipulation technique so she wouldn't remember Inochi saying that.)

"I'll save Shika," Inoichi promises firmly. "Shikamaru will be safe, I promise."

"But if we lose too many other people, the world will end," she says distantly. It doesn't- it doesn't sound like a code. Which is just the perfect capper to his day so far, really. "You- you keep Shika safe," she commands. Then, "You can keep him safe, from _this_. But. Even with all five villages together. When the future comes- we'll only barely be strong enough. I can't push it away anymore. I couldn't push it off course. When Gaara got taken- that was the beginning of the end." She's rambling now, tears in her eyes. "Don't tell- don't tell I said- it was my secret hidden nevertold I knew things from when I wasn't real- but you can't _tell_ because then my skull will crack like a watermelon and they'll _get_ me and they'll **use** the _one. thing._ that I made sure no one ever _could_ -"

"Sleep," Inoichi tells her, and her eyes flutter closed.

His eyes close too, for just a second. "Make sure to give the team a full briefing of the exact words she used, and any conclusions we were able to draw from that," Inoichi says, voice so weary it's nearly flat. "Something may become clear while in the midst of battle, and you'll need every advantage you can manage. ...Leave out what she said after mentioning the end of the world, though. It's pretty clear that wasn't about Danzo. She wasn't even struggling to work around the seal at that point."

"We'll keep that bit quiet," Kakashi agrees, eye nearly as flat as Inoichi's voice.

 _Damn_ Danzo.

"I'm going to drop Shikako off at the Akimichi compound. Sakura, you come with me- you'll need to monitor her. I don't want her waking up until Tsunade can get a look at this seal, which will probably have to wait until Danzo's dead. Ino, Naruto- get Yoshino and Shikamaru into the Akimichi compound for lunch, along with as many of the Nara kids as possible. Say the Yamanaka squirts don't have a big enough appetite, and you need some of the Nara ones. Call it an impromptu picnic. _Also_ bring the Yamanka squirts. Any older siblings or relatives who want to come along are welcome."

Old Torifu Akimichi had been a teammate of Danzo's, Inoichi remembered. If things got bad enough that they needed someone to _guard the kids_ from Danzo's contingency plans- and considering the Uchiha, and how many Konoha clan kids had been "lost" over the years, things _were_ that bad- Torifu's advice would be invaluable. And Choza's wife could cook a meal for fifty at the drop of a hat, and sometimes did cook extra for the clan children.

(There were many circumstances where it would have been disadvantageous to pit one former teammate against another. Telling an Akimichi "guard the children" would never be one of them. And reinforcing the idea that Shikako was a child of their three clans in need of adult protection- as well as an object lesson in everyone's previous failure to _give_ that protection- would also be beneficial.)

"Don't-" Inoichi starts, then sighs. "Don't break the news about Shikako to Shikamaru and Yoshino until things get settled a little more. Just... keep her in the guest bedroom with Sakura. For at least a few more hours. Until Tsunade can get a look at her, and I can get a look at what- what might have been done to Shikaku's mind. Maybe Yoshino's as well. ...Preferably after you get a look at my mind, Ino, because it's quite possible I've been conditioned to miss... certain things." Inoichi tells her.

Ino swallows, looking sick.

"For now, focus on protecting the children from Danzo" Inoichi finishes. He'd be telling Choza's wife about the situation at least- she'd tell Choza, when he stopped back by the house for lunch. Better an unnecessary contingency plan than none at all.


	5. ROOT Shikako, Age Sixteen (Part 2)

**This** is more of the ROOT!Shikako 'verse, where she took her brother's place. There are a lot of fics by wonderful authors on the "We're All Just Dreaming of Sunshine" forum, and you'll find some related to this 'verse around pages 110-113. Many of them fit between these scenes, or before them.

 **Saving Asuma**

The Fire Temple was dead. The Fire Temple was dead and the patrols were out and... not even an ant... not even an ant could get past. Wait. Tsunade hadn't said that. ...Not to her. (Tsunade had said it to the patrol teams, or would have said it, and things were starting to match up again, and it was important that she _remember this_ because Shikamaru was going to get terribly hurt if she didn't interfere.)

Shikako walked the streets in a daze. There was something _important._ She could feel it starting to unfold in her mind.

"What's up, kid?" Anko said.

"I need to go to the bounty office that's nearest to the Fire Temple, _now_." Shikako said simply. "Shika needs me to." She didn't know _why_ yet- maybe it wasn't wise to know why yet- and every adult in reach had made it clear that digging around in the shadows where she'd tucked things away was a Bad Idea. She had to let things come back on their own, through time or triggers or whatever manner those memories or fragments of herself preferred to use. Trying to force it was Bad. Apparently.

Shikako wasn't sure how much she bought that explanation, but if it was that important to everyone else- Shika had looked horrified, white-faced and young, as he tried to help explain- she figured she could listen.

* * *

(She'd tugged Naruto to sit down on the grass next to her, and plopped down next to Shika. It wasn't suspicious-looking- Shika and Ino and Sakura and Chouji were all talking together, and they'd invited her to lunch, so it wasn't strange that "Sai" would join them. It _was_ new that "Sai" had squeezed herself between Naruto and Shikamaru and was practically cuddling them both, but teenage girls did that sometimes.

"Are you having a better day today?" Ino had asked her towards the end of lunch, not using one name or another.

Shikako blinked up from where she was leaning on Shikamaru- if she held Naruto's hand at the same time that meant it wouldn't look suspicious to watchers, and she could remember the halycon days of cuddly toddlerhood in peace. "Not really. It's more that I managed to find something I'd tucked away for safekeeping."

Shikamaru had held her very tightly. He'd also made very sure that- aside from an very gentle request not to use any kind of jutsu or spiritual energy tricks right now- he'd started the subsequent discussion long enough after the lunch that she wouldn't come to associate hugging him with bad things, or more lectures on why she shouldn't do _any_ kind of spiritual manipulation in the future, now that the compulsion seal no longer presented a danger. Even if she _was_ trying to fix things.)

* * *

Getting passes out of the village wasn't too hard, but the kid was starting to frown more and more, and the pace she set for them once they were out of the gate was downright punishing.

"Not sure how much difference a few minutes are going to make, kid," Anko managed. "It's been weeks since we killed that one-eyed creep. He's a slab of meat that's been blown to bits- there's not going to be anything time-critical there."

"It's not his secret," Shikako said frowning. "It's mine."

Well, that didn't sound good.

"Sometimes I can tell when Shikamaru needs me to interfere," Shikako said, sounding surprised at herself.

Well, pretty much everyone involved on the "kill Danzo" mission had been briefed on the kid's skill at making herself forget things. 'Weird twin ability' wasn't that implausible a thing to forget you could do, especially if you didn't want that creeper realizing you knew your had a twin, or getting the bright idea of taking hostages.

"I kept that part, even though it was dangerous. Even though I was scared I might get used. And I know it won't always- it's not _reliable_. I'll be happy if it does turn out to be a false alarm. And it'll probably stop working entirely soon enough. But we do need to get to Shika before Asuma's killed for the bounty. It- it would be devastating." There was a pause. " _Huh,"_ Shikako managed. "And I think Kurenai might be _pregnant_? Wow. Guess we'll find out one way or another in a couple of months. Anyway, it's a dangerous ability," Shikako repeated. "So I mostly destroyed it."

Anko shrugged as they moved through the trees. "Eh, so you're prone to hunches. Every shinobi has that. I get dango right before things go to shit- it's not so weird that your hunches are twin-specific." (It _was_ weird that the kid's hunches were so _fact_ -specific, but either the kid's mental damage was finally showing up, _or_ the kid, quite sensibly, had decided Danzo's association with the snake was a good enough reason to ditch any knowledge of powerful twin-related abilities to the furthest corner of her mind. ...And the kid's info on Danzo had been weirdly fact-specific, too. It was at least worth a listen. The fact that Shikako was sane enough to realize it might not be accurate was a good sign, as well.)

"Something to keep under your hat, though," Anko added.

The kid's grin was _blinding_. "You won't mention it?" she said hopefully.

Anko had been Orochimaru's apprentice. This was the kind of thing that got people locked up by psychos after bloodlimits, if some bozo accidentally made the ability sound too powerful, too unique. It wouldn't even objectively matter how valuable the power actually _was_ , once the wrong person got _talking_ about it, you were screwed. " _Hell_ no. No point. You get a hunch, we follow the hunch. You get any other details, you tell me when we need to know." Anko would lay money down that Shikako had accidentally ditched a lot of the fear of telling people the ability when she'd ditched the ability, or else just stored the "need to use this technique to save Shikamaru" triggers in such a way that her other problems from spiritual manipulation were unlikely to interfere. Poor kid.

"We should blow up the priest," Shikako said, and edge of anticipatory violence in her voice. "And if he starts making a seal on the ground, we should blow that up, too. He doesn't die properly when you kill him, or something. And if he cuts you with his... three-bladed... ropey thing and takes your blood, then you die with him, as long as he's got that seal on the ground. ...And I think his partner fought the First Hokage once? Um. That bit's probably mixed up from something else. I've no idea, really, I just figure it's best to check to make sure Shika's not in trouble."

* * *

"If they _could_ kill me, I'd want them to," Hidan said, smiling as he drew a circle with his foot.

Four barriers snapped up around him, and the ground exploded.

"Huh," Anko said, landing with Shikako. Back to the barrier, face towards Asuma's team and 'the guy who probably didn't fight the First Hokage.' Shikako was- understandably- looking over towards her brother in concern, but Anko would prefer it if the girl's attention was more firmly directed towards that weird green-eyed fellow. "He didn't seem so tough," Anko boasted. Better to let their next opponent underestimate her.

"I'm not _dead yet_ ," a horrible, screeching sing-song voice came from behind them. Anko couldn't help but flick her gaze back. The burned and mangled pieces of the priest were... moving. Anko could make out bone-white shrapnel -of bone- and red splattered liberally around the barrier shield, and the guy was still talking and twitching around.

" _Ew_ ," Anko said.

"I think they're _both_ immortal," Shikako whispered through gritted teeth. "Sort of."

"Sounds fun," Anko muttered back. "But 'ol scraps here probably isn't a problem unless he can piece himself back together. So we focus on the other guy, kid." At this point, Anko was pretty sure old green-eyes was listening in. ...Along with everyone else, because hey, they _were_ ninja.

"Yeah," Shikako said, quietly. "Um. You know how I thought I was confused about the thing?"

"Heh," Anko snorted, pretty sure where this conversation was heading. "No worries, kid. Everybody hates to be right."

Now, to take on the guy who'd survived the First Hokage. ...And who was a good deal nearer to Team Asuma than she'd like.

 **"Sai" Shikako in Konoha, when the visitors from Cloud arrive after Konoha has become a giant crater**

Naruto was dozens of Naruto clones. Sakura was working in the hospital tent. Danzo was dead and Tsunade was in a coma, so Kakashi was going to be Hokage, even if he seemed to be doing other things right now. Sai had asked him if he was going to take his mask off for the mountain sculpture. Kakashi hadn't looked at her like she was saying something strange, even though Naruto and Sakura had. That was good. That meant Sai was getting better at making sense to the person she was talking to.

Sai's combat abilities had been unaffected by her recent mishap, but Sai was not being sent out of the village for now. Sai was on light duty. There were no ninja capable of standing upright who were completely off-duty, right now.

Shikamaru was capable of standing upright. Walking was painful, however. It made his eyes squint. Shikamaru had to walk from the Nara clan tent to the Records tent and to the Sorting Valuables tent during the day. He had a crutch. Shikamaru's teammate Chouji brought him lunch so he didn't have to walk during lunch break. It was better if Shikamaru didn't have to put weight on his leg for the next few weeks. Sai asked if Sakura could do more intensive healing, because that seemed far longer than was typical for a broken leg treated by a medic nin as skilled as Sakura.

"I did as much as I could," Sakura said. "You don't need flattery, and I didn't skimp on Shikamaru's healing to save chakra for other patients. It was a bad break, so it'll take some time to get better. That's all. Sometimes these things take time." Sakura gave Shikamaru a look at this point. Sai did not know what it meant. Shikamaru was being quiet.

Since he'd broken his leg, Shikamaru was quiet a lot. And he petted Sai's hair, sometimes. Sakura had said it wasn't about the leg. Sometimes Sai wasn't sure if Shikamaru was petting Sai's hair or Shikako's hair. Shikamaru had said "both, because you're my sister." Sai didn't feel like she was a triplet.

Sai suggested that Sai carry Shikamaru from the Nara tent to the Records tent in the mornings, and from the Sorting tent to the Nara tent in the evenings, as that was the longest part of the walk. It would be more efficient.

Shikamaru had made a face. He asked, wouldn't it be troublesome for his sister to tire herself out this way. He didn't explain why it wasn't more efficient.

* * *

(Shikamaru was not calling her Sai or Shikako and was just calling her "little sister." Kakashi had explained how Shikamaru was Sai's brother, so that made some sense. Sai called Shikamaru Shikamaru. Sometimes Sai called Shikamaru "Shika" without realizing it, even though her teammates had confirmed to Sai that she'd never called Shikamaru "Shika" before Shikamaru had broken his leg and Konoha had been "shinra tensei-d."

Shikaku Nara had quietly explained to them that this was not quite accurate, and that Shikako Nara had called Shikamaru "Shika" all through childhood.

"In the first two years, when that was allowed," Sai had realized. Sai had used to be Shikako, so it made sense that Shikako's name for her brother might become Sai's name for her brother. Shikamaru had patted his sister's hair again. Shikaku Nara had rested a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder.

Sai had tried to visit the Nara tent without it being a mission to walk with Shikamaru to the Records tent, but there had been children there and then Sai had had to leave.

It was a shame. Sai got to talk to Shikamaru and Shikaku Nara. Shikamaru was on Team Ten and worked with Team 7, and Shikaku Nara was the Jounin Commander, so it would not look out of the ordinary for Sai to talk to them. But Shikamaru's sister didn't get to talk to Yoshino Nara without needing having to leave because of reasons. That did not seem fair to Yoshino Nara, who was a good person.

Sai would have to think about the problem.

Shikamaru seemed happier when Sai was happy. But Shikamaru didn't like seeing Sai listen to Anko give excellent descriptions of the different ways Anko should have killed Danzo, and even better descriptions of how Danzo had actually been killed. And that was strange, because that was something that made Sai happy.

So sometimes Sai tried to find different things that made her happy. Sai had already found many more things than she would have ever expected before meeting Naruto and Sai's other teammates. Sai had been content with that.

But knowing that Shikamaru would be happier if Sai found _more_ things made finding them... like a mission.

Sai _liked_ missions. Every time Sai got a mission Sai was reminded it wasn't Danzo giving her a mission, because Danzo was dead. And every time Sai gave herself a mission now, it was never a mission about protecting the children or Shika from Danzo, because Danzo was dead.

Later Sai would have to go back to giving herself scary missions again, in order to protect Shika. But for now they were rebuilding Konoha, and Shika was safe.

And Sai had found lots of things she liked!

Sai liked sharing a tent with Anko and Tenten. (Konoha was still low on tents). Sai and Anko and Tenten were settled next to Kakashi and Gai and Lee's tent- who were always inviting Anko and Tenten and Sai for dinner, because Tenten could cook things that weren't hot curry and Sai could eat things that _were_ hot curry and Anko could cut someone if she got snubbed.

And Shikamaru had liked it when Sai had told him Sai liked snapdragons because of the pretty shape of the flowers and the scary shape of the seed pods and their cool name. Sai didn't know what snapdragons _meant_ \- Sai had not gone to kunoichi lessons. But Sai liked snapdragons. Shikamaru had promised to get Sai some later for Sai's tent with Anko and Tenten.

Shikamaru had asked his sister if she wanted to come over for dinner. (Sai couldn't come over for dinner. The Nara tents nearby had children and families inside them, and children and families had to be safe.)

Sai had asked if they could have dinner at the tent Kakashi and Gai and Lee were sharing instead , and then Shikamaru's sister could sit next to Yoshino Nara and find out the things that made Yoshino Nara happy. (The tent would have at least three jounin and one tobesku jounin and and four chuunin not even counting Yoshino Nara, who was herself a semi-retired chuunin and able to defend herself adequately. And Kakashi was good at explaining things and Gai and Lee were cheerful, which would be good if Sai didn't understand something right away or said something that made people sad.)

They had dinner, and it was good. It was hot curry. Yoshino Nara didn't eat much of it, but Shikamaru's sister got to talk with her a lot about the things Yoshino Nara liked to cook, and Yoshino Nara had agreed to teach Lee and Tenten and Shikamaru's sister how to cook other dishes using the space in the girl's tent and the cookery supplies and products Gai and Lee and Kakashi and Anko and Tenten and Sai had access to. Which was a lot, even though the only one who had any of that stuff was Tenten.

Tenten liked sharing, and Tenten also liked to collect all her useful stuff in storage scrolls and carry it on her back all the time instead of ever putting it down and then risking losing things or having them stolen or touched. (Sakura had called it hoarding behavior, possibly from Tenten's early years in the orphanage, when Sai had mentioned it.)

Sai thought "hoarding behavior" sounded like an excellent idea. Tenten was practically the only person in thier village that still had stuff. A dragon hoard of cooking supplies and bandages and useful tools for killing Edo Tensei zombies, all carried around in an efficient-looking tiny pack like Tenten's, would look perfect underneath snapdragons on Sai's windowsill. When Konoha was rebuilt and Sai had windows, and a windowsill. It would be nice.

"Useful tools for killing zombies?" Tenten had asked, laughing.

"I can help you make some, if you like," Sai had offered. Making things to fight zombies had been her best hobby since she was twelve and could finally give Danzo-creeper strategic reasoning to justify her efforts. Sai had lost lots of her tools in the "shinra-tensei" of Konoha, and it was making her twitchy.

* * *

Sai was helping Shikamaru walk to the Records tent when he nearly tripped his crutch on a small palm-sized rock in the middle of the path. Shikamaru was too good a shinobi to trip without distractions, but Sai followed his gaze and and a three-man team from Cloud. There was a girl with red her. The girl's name was was Karui. Sai had never met Karui, and Karui had never appeared in a Bingo book. It was... interesting.

Sai wanted to poke Karui. But poking a ninja from a non-allied village was rude, and could be construed as an attack.

...Sai looked at the small rock that Shikamaru had almost tripped on.

...Karui was looking around the rubble of Konoha with a horrified and fairly _guilty_ expression. (A conversation in the woods, a rock thrown in annoyance, the exaggerated wailings "what if it hits another rock and another rock and another rock and the avalanche destroys Konoha?", ...the emergence from the woods onto the lip of a crater.)

Sai didn't know why she thought the results would be so entertaining, but she picked up the rock by Shikamaru's crutch and said, very seriously, making sure to stare intently into Karui's eyes: "I believe this belongs to you."

The results were _enormously_ entertaining.

At one point in the subsequent conversation, Sai was able to acknowledge that Konoha was not unreasonable, and allowed that perhaps the fault lay, not with Karui herself, but with the rock.

Omoi and Karui had both looked at the small rock in horror and apprehension, and -when Sai had carefully tossed the rock over to Karui, as one might a loaded grenade (whatever that was)- Omoi had squawked and flung himself on the ground with his hands over his head.

At which point Sai had started giggling, Samui had told both of the younger Cloud ninja to knock off the idiocy, and Karui had scowled at Sai in annoyance and embarrassed realization, and carefully pocketed the rock.

"I should have figured the Leaf was observing our approach, even if we didn't see any patrols past the lip of the town," Samui had acknowledged wryly. "I've got to hand it to your Hokage- there's not many who could organize watches for a follow-up attack after being hit this hard. Heard our conversation out by the Forest, did you?"

Sai blinked and tilted her head. More people asking questions about what Sai did or didn't know. Even strangers to the village had seemed pick up the habit. "No. I've been walking across the village with my brother," Sai explained simply. "I can't hear people from that far away."

The Cloud ninja didn't leap in with an explanation of what Sai's answer should have been, though, or started explaining what Sai had missed, so that was different from most Konoha ninja Sai knew.

"We have several Hyuuga clan members on watch; they can read lips," Shikamaru drawled, barely a pause between Sai's answer and his own. "And you know how ninja gossip. Nice to meet you guys, though." He nudged Sai with the arm not holding a crutch, and Sai winced at the realization that Shikamaru had been standing upright all this time. Shikamaru should really be at least sitting down as much as possible, if he couldn't be resting.

Perhaps that was why Shikamaru took the rest of the walk at a pace just a little bit faster than the one they'd started out with.

"Hey," Shikamaru said when they arrived at the tent, as if he'd just thought of it. "Why don't you stay here in the records tent with me this morning? You don't have that shift with the rubble crews until after lunch, and if you switch with a Naruto clone, you can spend the afternoon scavenging for personal effects to bring to the Sorting tent."

Sai blinked. "All right." It was useful work, and it would be nice to be able to make sure Shikamaru was safe and happy. Then Sai could even eat lunch with Shikamaru and Chouji, and help Shikamaru walk to the Sorting tent, and spend the afternoon with people who were finding things to give to Shikamaru.

It was a little surprising Shikamaru had not mentioned this at the Nara tent before they had left, but Shikamaru was getting used to working around things that bothered Sai. Sai wasn't sure how she should feel about that. It would be nice for everyone else if Sai was well and no one had to work around Sai's problems.

But Sai and Shikamaru were more capable if they were both taking care of each other, so Sai supposed it wasn't too bad to need taking care of sometimes. Actually, if that was the most well-organized way to do things, then relying on Shikamaru's help shouldn't really bother Sai.

...Maybe it was like how Shika didn't want to be carried to the Records tent in the mornings, even though Sai was definitely strong enough and it was clearly more efficient.


	6. ROOT Shikako AU: Age Twelve

Shikako's most recent mission assignment(s) had been:

(From Danzo): The Ne agent was to observe and report on the political situation in the Land of Birds, with an eye towards preventing the country from gaining ninja forces, and- if necessary- take action towards that end. The Ne agent was to remain unseen.

(From herself): Shikako was to find a plausible cause to delay her return to Konoha. She should not return before the Third Exam.

The Third Exam of the Chuunin Exams were approaching. If Danzo stayed true to her assessment of his character and motivations, all ROOT agents would likely be ordered to remain stationed underground during the invasion of Konoha.

If Shikako was already underground at that time, that restriction would make her _next_ mission far more difficult.

* * *

Both missions had been completed successfully:

The Ne agent had revealed the Watari nin and their schemes, without revealing her own presence to anyone. The guards of the Land of Birds had taken losses, but the Ne agent's invisible interference had ensured their ultimate success.

The Ne agent had remained unseen. The Ne agent was excellent at remaining unseen, even among other Ne agents.

Shikako had prevented the assassination of the Daiymo (whose father had already been the victim of a foul and scheming advisor, and who had a twin sister who loved him very much). Shikako had obviously been motivated solely by the desire to fulfill Danzo-sama's wishes that the Land of Birds not be overthrown in a coup by a ninja clan and so "gain ninja forces," because the Ne agent was a good little tool who was incapable of personal motivation.

Most unfortunately, these necessary additional efforts had taken several extra days. It was such a shame to fail to live up to Danzo's totally reasonable standards of perfection. Of course, the Ne agent would not feel personal sadness or disappointment at this failure. Only the blank melancholy at failing to perform successfully for Danzo-sama, which Danzo liked to see in his agents, and somehow didn't consider as an emotion that needed to be crushed, because he was sane and logical like that.

The Ne agent would have to be sure to pack up Sarcasm properly into her shadow again before reporting to Danzo, as it seemed to get stronger when she failed to let it out for exercise.

* * *

Shikako returned to Konoha on the day of the Third Exam with some small pride at her success. Shikako did not often unpack Pride, but she sometimes did let it out quiet moments alone after finishing a personal mission.

Shikako had neatly unpacked more than usual from her shadow-storage today, because today was important. Shikako had given herself a mission again.

This was perfectly allowable.

It had never been _forbidden_.

And it was logical. In order to ensure successful completion, large missions often needed many smaller steps to be performed. Some of these smaller steps had to be self-assigned, as a ninja reacted to problems in the field.

These smaller steps could certainly be considered smaller missions.

The larger mission was neatly shelved in her shadow-storage today, which was also perfectly allowable, because that technique had also never been forbidden (or commented on or even noticed by anyone besides herself, as even Fu merely considered it a personal quirk) and moreover was in perfect alignment with Danzo's insistence that all agents maintain perfect focus on the task at hand.

Shikako had more critical (and insubordinate and even disloyal) thoughts regarding Danzo unpacked than she usually did, and more unpacked feelings regarding a desire to spend time with Shikamaru and Shikaku and Yoshino Nara than she usually allowed. But that was also perfectly fine, because there was zero chance any of that could possibly interfere with the success of her current mission.

* * *

Shikako's mission briefing to herself was this:

Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha was happening now. (Happily, this made the Ne agent's upcoming "unavoidable" engagement with enemy forces before the Ne agent's report to Danzo totally plausible.)

Likely as not, Sasuke was going to chase after Gaara. Shika and Sakura and Naruto and Pakkun would then receive a mission to go after Sasuke.

Nine adult Sound ninja would attempt to intercept this team in the woods, and Shika would drop back to delay them. Alone. Thinking thoughts about how he'd just wanted an ordinary life, and a wife that wasn't too pretty or ugly, and a kid, eventually.

Shika was going to drop back to delay nine adult Sound ninja alone, and he didn't have a plan that would let him survive.

(If Shika was lucky, Asuma Sarutobi would come sweeping in at the very last moment. Shika's life couldn't be trusted to luck.)

* * *

Shikako's mission was this:

Shikamaru Nara was going to survive his encounter with the nine adult Sound ninja, and he was going to do so without developing any kind of curiosity towards anything remotely connected with Shimura Danzo, because that kind of curiosity was lethal, and Shikamaru Nara was going to survive.

* * *

The problem with trying to silently take out nine adult Sound ninja before they managed to encounter your brother who had dropped back alone, was that they inevitably called for backup when their comrades started mysteriously disappearing in the trees.

It was understandable- nothing in this location was critical to holding the village, so the oversized team had likely been ANBU-hunting. And now they thought they'd found one. A skilled one. So they'd called in two other teams of nine.

Shika had, indeed, dropped back to delay the nine adult Sound ninja. He was now facing thirteen. And would have to avoid some blood-slicked trees, and blackened holes of soot and gore, and strings of red-colored ninja wire as he fought. There were some actual corpses, too, but those were easy to avoid.

The thirteen remaining Sound ninja had cornered Shika in hopes of drawing the ANBU out.

Shikako did not know if going after a twelve-year-old was a strategy that would draw out a real Konoha ANBU. She thought, rather cynically, that it wouldn't. Shika was a genin now, not an Academy student. A Konoha ANBU would know that, and act accordingly.

Shikako was not a real Konoha ANBU.

(After today, she was not sure she wanted to be. She remained unsure because joining the Konoha ANBU was the only way she knew of to escape ROOT, other than being sent to spy on Team 7. Although, of course, no one ever escaped from ROOT.)

Shikako dropped down from her spot in the trees, to appear at Shika's back. She was wearing her ROOT mask, so that was good. No recognizable features similar to the Nara clan- or worse, _Yoshino_ Nara- were apparent.

She was also visibly a centimeter or two shorter than Shika, and that was bad, because that would encourage questions. Questions were more dangerous that thirteen adult Sound ninja, because Shikako could not defend Shika from questions he might want to ask without generating more. A conundrum.

The thirteen adult Sound ninja did not look like they were inclined to underestimate Shikako based on her size, and that was a shame. But sacrificing her vantage point in the surrounding trees wasn't the tactical sacrifice it looked to be, because Shikako had already lost most of her stealth advantage. Shikako wasn't good enough at scent-suppression techniques to cover up the smell of this much blood. Especially since most of it wasn't even hers.

Sacrificing her spot in the trees wasn't a tactical sacrifice at all, really- Shikako's goal was protecting Shika, and her spot at Shika's back was the best way of achieving that.

…It was a nice place to be, too. He wasn't even subconsciously flinching away from the tiny gore-streaked masked ninja leaking killing intent at all their attackers, which was sweet. Shikako sent a wave of Positive Intent his way. Shika would be safe.

Shika would be safe, but Shika, unfortunately, had not practiced his shadow jutsu thoroughly enough to catch more than nine adult Sound ninja at once.

(Shikako had some basic abilities in that department. Carefully practiced away from Danzo's gaze, as she wasn't supposed to know she was a Nara. Shikako was far more skilled at the shadows in her mind, which were invisible and didn't even cause a chakra spike. Shikako might theoretically be capable of lending her visible physical shadow as support to Shika. However, that would lead to curiosity. Curiosity regarding unknown tiny masked Naras was _also_ curiosity regarding Danzo's predilection for nabbing and brainwashing clan children as members of his personal secret army, and was therefore lethal. So, showing evidence of Nara shadow affinity was quite contrary to the goal of Shikamaru Nara's survival.)

Shikamaru Nara's effective limit of "nine adult ninja at once" was not something Shikako would have known, because there were only supposed to be nine adult Sound ninja attacking Shika in the first place. Possibly the skill of the members of the two additional teams also had something to do with it. And these thirteen were the _most_ skilled and wary of the initial twenty-seven, because these were the ones who had managed to survive Shikako's preliminary assaults.

(Possibly the two other teams of nine had been the cause of Asuma Sarutobi's delay in the other timeline. Shikako did not know what was keeping him now. He was late. Though probably not in the dead way. Clearly, it was good that Shikako had not trusted Shika's well-being to Asuma Sarutobi's timeliness. Shika defended and facing additional ninja was preferable to Shika undefended and facing fewer ninja, especially since that timeline's Shika had been thinking wistful thoughts about how nice it would have been to have lived a little longer, and hadn't seemed to have a plan.)

There were four Sound shinobi still free, and, of course, they sensibly attacked the ninja holding nine of their fellows still, who was Shika.

Shikako defended him.

She took a few more minor injuries.

Most unfortunately, the wind jutsu that caused her to impact the tree and suffer a minor concussion was followed up by a shuriken that cracked her mask. Hopefully, the blood from her scalp would obscure any familiar-looking features.

The four Sound shinobi took longer than she'd like to finish off, and Shika was straining with the effort of holding the other nine. He was also distracted by looking at the knife buried in her lower chest, which had mostly hit armor and was worse than it looked. It had slowed Shikako down in finishing up the last two free Sound ninja, though. And that was an indication that she might not be able to finish killing all the nine Sound ninja held in Shikamaru Nara's shadow before Shikamaru was forced to drop the technique, so perhaps some concern was understandable.

Shikako attempted to dispatch the remaining nine Sound ninja as quickly as possible. She succeeded, in that she knew she'd pushed her body and chakra to its limit and couldn't have possibly gone any faster.

She got six of them.

Then Shika let out a gasp and knelt one knee on the ground. Shikamaru Nara was not suffering from chakra exhaustion, but he did not have enough left to sustain a jutsu or physical enhancement. And Shikamaru Nara had not practiced fighting without using any chakra.

(This was not surprising. Even the ROOT program had not had anyone practice fighting while deprived of chakra, until Danzo had noticed Shikako doing it, and introduced it into the training program.)

Of the remaining three Sound ninja, two of them headed towards Shika.

It was a poor tactical decision. They were sacrificing an opportunity to attack the person who had killed twenty-four of their fellows and was trying to kill them, in order to go after an exhausted genin who had not killed anyone.

Possibly they had analyzed Shikako's fighting strategy and concluded that this was the best way to really _hurt_ their opponent.

A poor tactical decision. They should have run, instead. Shikako would have let them go.

Shikako broke off her attack on the one Sound ninja who had attacked her (and who _did_ run, after her disengagement, grimly clutching the wound on his leg) and Body Flickered into the very small space between the staggering-up-from-his-kneeling-stance Shika, and the Sound ninja. It was good that she was small.

Shika was thankfully still uninjured.

Shikako had lost her air-was temporarily winded from the attack from the running Sound ninja, and would be for the next few seconds- and did not have enough chakra left to perform a jutsu. So she cut the throat of the adult Sound ninja nearest to her and used him as a meat shield as he died. Holding him up with her arms alone was too difficult without chakra enhancement, but that was what leverage was for. She put her shoulder into it.

It was an effective shield- Shika didn't get hit by the thrown kunai or the Fire jutsu, and even Shikako barely got the edges of her hair singed, although things did get rather smelly- but it made killing the remaining Sound shinobi difficult.

She could throw away the meat shield and try to grapple, but she was at a significant height and weight disadvantage there. Even if she tackled him to cut his throat or stab his heart, her fingers didn't seem to be clenching properly for some reason. It would be ill-advised.

There was the sound of another wind jutsu- a cutting wind jutsu, which sounded precise enough to indicate a very skilled opponent- and Shikako contemplated what she could possibly say that might convince Shika to run. He had no earthly idea who she was, which was a good advantage, but he could be weirdly noble sometimes, which wasn't.

She ditched the meat shield in favor of getting a look at her next opponent.

Oh. It was Asuma Sarutobi.

And he'd killed the runaway Sound ninja, in addition to the fellow who had been trying to get through Shikako's hastily improvised shield. That was good. That meant there were no Sound nin left to report to Orochimaru that a person of her description had been defending Shikamaru Nara.

(Orochimaru was one of the few people to realize that Shikako Nara had not, in fact, died at age two. And he had been interested in her. Not interested enough to take her away from Danzo. But very interested nevertheless. Which pretty much got Shikako all of the bad parts and none of the advantages, as was typical of most things in Shikako's life.)

Asuma Sarutobi looked deeply worried and… aghast. Was aghast the right word? Probably.

Good. Aghast was _good_. Aghast meant Asuma Sarutobi was very concerned for Shika's well-being, which was appropriate, because what kind of teacher wanted their twelve-year-old student alone in a war zone?

(Kakashi got a pass, because he was sending two of his twelve-year-old students to his _other_ twelve-year-old student who was _already_ alone in a war zone, and he had sensibly arranged for Pakkun to accompany them. Shikako understood necessity.)

But Asuma Sarutobi's concern for Shika mean that Shikako could leave Shika in Asuma Sarutobi's care and know that Asuma Sarutobi would look after Shika.

Asuma Sarutobi was Shika's teacher, and Shika loved him very much and would be very sad if he died (which meant that Protecting Asuma Sarutobi would have to be another mission for later, when Asuma Sarutobi needed it) but also meant that she could probably trust Asuma Sarutobi to get Shika to somewhere safe, rather than just ditching Shika after the nearest enemies were dead.

Shikako gave Asuma a thankful nod, and stepped aside to indicate Shika's slightly shaky but injury-free state. Shikako gave a hand sign in Konoha Basic that indicated that Asuma Sarutobi was in charge of supervising/protecting the junior ninja now.

(Ninja _protected_ clients, and _supervised_ junior ninja. Shikako wasn't disrespectful enough of Shika's skills to consider him a _client_ : Shika was very talented, he was very _very_ brilliant, and he was going to grow up to be amazing and skilled wise and trustworthy and _good_.

Although Konoha basic was the handsign taught to Academy students, and ROOT trainees (who also learned Konoha basic) were given the opportunity to secretly observe general Konoha nin and their silent conversations on many, many occasions, _Protect_ was a handsign Shikako had never seen accompany the descriptor _junior ninja_ before.

And if that didn't tell her something was wrong with Konoha- the Above Konoha, the Konoha of the Sunshine and the Leaves- well, nothing would.)

Shikako did not have enough chakra for a proper jutsu, but there was still just enough for her to Body-Flicker to the nearest clearing.

And, after a moment, she was able to stagger to her knees from where she'd fallen on the forest floor. It was difficult to focus. She was developing tunnel vision again. It would be problematic if someone were to attack. Luckily, there was a thicket perhaps fifteen feet away that would make good cover as she recovered enough chakra to treat her injuries.

She tried to stand, to start to walk.

…Trying to stand was risky and inadvisable. Hands and knees were good. It was good that the knife had not gone in very deep, and she was wearing armor. It was good that most of the blood was dry, and wouldn't drip. It was bad that she'd lost her scent-suppressing technique, but there was lots of blood in these woods and that would probably give her some time. She made it to the thicket and rolled herself underneath, as close to the center of the plant as possible.

* * *

"Why did you make us watch her crawl there?" Shikamaru asked, very quietly, as they made their way through the woods, heading toward the hospital.

His student kept checking the girl's pulse. (The girl's pulse was fine. She wasn't in any danger of dying- from her injuries. Her behavior was pointed to another problem.)

"We needed to know how much trouble she was in," Asuma replied. He didn't know who the kid was. He wasn't sure he cared. She wasn't from Sound. She wasn't from Sand. She'd taken down twenty-seven Sound ninja alone and made sure his student had escaped unharmed.

And the only protection she'd expected was a thicket she could _crawl to_.

…Sadly, it was quite possible she was from Konoha.

Asuma didn't know quite why his suspicions had landed so firmly on that target, but he had some experience with a fourteen-year-old Kakashi's Black Ops cynicism. There was a certain …type. Ninja from other villages- even ANBU-level ninja- never quite matched it.

"My aunt Igaku is a medic-nin in Surgery," Shikamaru said, looking down at the knife in the girl's gut- it had mostly hit her armor, but Shikamaru wasn't experienced enough yet to notice things like that at a glance.

"Good," Asuma said vaguely, wishing Kurenai was here. "We're going to put up a genjutsu to hide the girl, and I'm going to carry you both in at the same time and say it's you who was hurt. We'll go straight up to your aunt." It would be hard, with the casualties from the invasion, but doable.

Shikamaru looked at him with wide eyes. "Do you want her to _kill you_?"

"She'll understand," Asuma said vaguely. Medic nins had hated treating Black Ops kids. They had been some of the quietest, fiercest backers… against the program…

(What better way to keep the medic from protesting than to just… not _allow_ underage agents to see them? _Politics_. Damn.

Asuma remembered having to go up to his father with Gai and Kurenai and beg for Kakashi to get reassigned. Looking at tired eyes and wondering when his friend would just decide to… leave himself open. For the strike.

This kid wasn't tired. This kid was a firecracker and Asuma could understand exactly why Black Ops wanted her.

Konoha could give her better than a fucking _thicket_ , and it was going to, if Asuma had go and dig up the plant and ram it down his Dad's throat himself.

Which was why it was a good idea to get some traditional Medic-nin support from the aunt of the boy this kid had just saved. Politics, again.)

"Aunt Igaku's not great at being understanding," Shikamaru said warily. "I'm pretty sure that's why she went into Surgery."

* * *

Aunt Igaku notices that Shikako looks _quite_ like Yoshino Nara, and her own brother Shikaku. Aunt Igaku runs a blood test. Aunt Igaku is Not Understanding. At All.

She is Not Understanding about the 50% DNA match between her nephew and the niece her Hokage had sworn was deceased. She is Not Understanding about having to cut out her niece's tongue to remove a seal, or having to find a tissue match to give her niece a tongue transplant (which went well). She is Not Understanding about Shikako Nara's habit of spiritually manipulating herself to avoid the seal's horrific restrictions and compulsions, and the girl got quite a lecture.

Igaku demanded an account of Shikako Nara's medical record, self-reported as best the girl was able, and she was Not Understanding about that.

This turned into a request for an account of ROOT training methods, a deposition supervised by Morino Ibiki, who was called over to Shikako Nara's surgery room. Ibiki only had a broken arm, after all, and Igaku wanted someone else to hear this nonsense, (besides Asuma Sarutobi, or her nephew who had refused to move or stop holding his sister's hand, and was probably going to be traumatized for life form hearing all this, but was a stubborn little brat who had gotten exactly what he had asked for.)

Ibiki Morino is also Not Understanding.

(He was especially Not Understanding about any situation that forced one ten-year-old Shikako to smuggling another ten-year old "who I named Sai" out of the Land of Fire. After Shikako had carefully explained to "Sai" that the graduation test was _really_ a very special test, to see if you could anticipate the test Danzo-sama was going to give you –which was to kill eachother- and find the _hidden_ test- which was to pretend to kill each other and actually have one agent secretly practice his undercover civilian skills outside the Land of Fire until the test was over. This explanation subverted the compulsion seal that would have killed Sai for running away. "I never thought of just cutting it out," Shikako had said, slightly slurred, giving an admiring glance over towards Igaku Nara and her blazing eyes.

Ibiki asked if anyone else had managed to save their partners. Shikako had told him that Shin managed a really awesome trick where he was able to conceal his worsening terminal illness from Danzo for some months, so that he'd be able to kill himself during the final exam while assuring his test partner that it was just a quicker and more merciful version of a death that would have happened anyway. Shin had probably been the only one Shikako had considered a friend, Shikako had admitted. Sai had been a sweet kid, and Shikako was glad to look after him, but Shin had been the only other one aside from Shikako who's known what was up as soon as Danzo divided them up into training pairs at age six. Danzo was kind of predictable sometimes.

Sadly, a lot of this can be confirmed. It can be confirmed because Shikako Nara made it her special mission to find out where all the little graves were.)

Ibiki has informed Igaku under no circumstances is she to spread the details of those responsible pre-emptively, before confirmation. Because Anko is also in the hospital, has an ear for gossip, and would not be receptive to the idea of being discriminating in her targets, as Anko prefers to sort her victims into 1) the quick and 2) the dead. It is quite possible some elders were not involved. It is quite possible additional people _were_. They need to find out who those people are.

So.

Ibiki Morino and Igaku Nara work together to make a different plan.

After all, Igaku is brusque, but _is_ extremely well-respected by her fellow hospital staff and supervisors. And the Nara are very big in medicine, so there's a lot of them in the hospital, specifically.

More clan members are called in.

And friends.

This makes perfect sense-most ninja still fighting think the hospital was informed that it was designated a target, and it simply responding promptly to the threat. They're not exactly _wrong_. Once certain parties discover that Shikako Nara is in the hospital, it will be a target.

The hospital is very efficiently treating patients, and also Maintaining Hospital Security Against Traitorous Child-Snatching Thieves, throughout the invasion. Konoha nin are not totally sure why all the medics are so pissed, but they are sure there is a reason.

The Sound and Sand nin are routed, and the village security is brought down a level.

Just… not at the hospitals.

* * *

Shikaku rubbed his head and looked around at the elder council and gathered heads of the division. And Jiraiya, who had brought an... interesting report. "Sand and Sound forces have been routed. The civilians and genin are still in the evacuation tunnels. And the hospital… is threatening to secede from Konoha."

"They're still agreeing to treat patients, apparently," Jiraiya said. "And they're not actually _moving_ anywhere. But they're handling all the security arrangements internally, or through connections with friends and clanmates who are skilled field shinobi, and kicking out everyone they don't like who's uninjured. And they're refusing to let the security forces they've vetted be reassigned somewhere else. And they've commandeered a perimeter of at least several blocks in each direction."

"Have they given a _reason_ for this blatant defiance?" Danzo asked. It should have sounded like a threat. Mostly, it just sounded like Danzo really, really wanted to hear what the reason was. This was… unprecedented.

"Well, I hadn't gotten the news yet, when I told Igaku Nara the Hokage was going to need a reason for the hospital's increased security arrangements."

Shikaku winced. "She's not-

"-good with people, yeah, I've been told. She poked me in the chest with her finger, stared me in the eye, and said ' _He knows what he did_.' So, then I asked her out for dinner and a drink, and she said she had a date with Ibiki Morino, who was a sensible, principled man, and didn't hold with the kind of sadistic inhumanity she'd had to hear about today. But if I wanted to get Asuma Sarutobi a drink, the poor guy probably needed it, and I could get my gossip then. So I yelled up to ask if Asuma wanted a drink, and Asuma informed me "wouldn't we all effing like one" and told me go back to the tower and find out if anyone knew what was going on, and then to punch those people in the face. And Shikamaru added that I should break all their arms and legs and leave them for Inoichi and his dad to find, although his aunt reminded him that Ibiki would probably be involved as well. So," Jiraiya asked, voice turning hard, "who knows what's going on?"


End file.
